During a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, Metropolitan Anthony Sevryuk of Volokolamsk, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, expressed his concerns to the pontiff about the "persecution" currently experienced by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
This was reported by Glavkom, citing the propagandistic agency TASS.
During the conversation, topics such as Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and ongoing conflicts in the world, including those in Ukraine and the Middle East, were discussed.
Metropolitan Anthony accused the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's episcopate of spreading anti-Russian statements and criticized the Vatican for not responding to these claims.
He refuted accusations that the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine acts as an “agent of Russian influence,” labeling them as “groundless.”
Earlier, Reuters reported that the meeting with Russian Metropolitan Anthony signified an effort to improve relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church.