Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church will not travel to Kazakhstan for the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in September, where, as previously reported, a meeting with Pope Francis could take place.
According to "Yevropeyska Pravda", the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Anthony, was reported as saying this by the propagandist media outlet "Sputnik.Kazakhstan".
"This year, with the blessing of Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church (in Kazakhstan) will be represented by an official delegation. The Patriarch himself will not participate in Congress. Accordingly, his meeting with Pope Francis in Kazakhstan is not planned," Metropolitan Anthony said.
As RISU previously reported, the pope will participate in the Congress of religious leaders in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, on September 13-15. It had been planned that Patriarch Kirill would also be at this forum. There was no official announcement about the meeting between the Pope and Kirill in Kazakhstan, but experts did not rule out that such a meeting could have taken place and had not an official but a private character.
Cardinal Koch, Prefect of Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, stated in an interview for a German Catholic News Agency that a possible meeting of Pope Kirill in Kazakhstan would be a challenge and hardly make sense "because in Ukraine it would be perceived as a great difficulty."
On August 5, Pope Francis met with Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk) of the Russian Orthodox Church, the new head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations said the conversation was conducted in Italian and discussed"numerous issues on the agenda of Orthodox-Catholic relations, including in the context of political processes taking place in the world."
During a flight from Canada to Italy, Pope Francis confirmed his intention to visit Ukraine and Kazakhstan in a conversation with journalists.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Vatican Andriy Yurash expressed hope for the arrival of the pontiff in Ukraine in August, before his visit to Kazakhstan, which will be held on September 13-15.
It is important that the Holy Father comes to our country before his September trip to Kazakhstan, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash believes.