Pope cancels meeting with Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch
Ukrinform
Plans for Pope Francis to meet in Jerusalem in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia's war in Ukraine, have been suspended.
That’s according to Reuters, Ukrinform reports.
Francis told Argentine’s La Nacion in an interview that he regretted that the plan had to be "suspended" because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting "could lend itself to much confusion at this moment".
The report says the Vatican was considering extending the pope's trip to Lebanon on June 12-13 by a day so that he could meet with Kirill on June 14 in Jerusalem.
Kirill, 75, has given his full-throated blessing for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a position that has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an internal rebellion that theologians and academics say is unprecedented.
The pope and Kirill of Russia first met in Cuba in 2016.
