Pope to Russian Patriarch: ‘Church uses language of Jesus, not of politics’

Pope Francis holds a video call with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to discuss the war in Ukraine, and calls on Church leaders to use the language of Jesus, not that of politics.

By Vatican News staff reporter

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed that a conversation took place in the early afternoon between Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Mr. Bruni noted that Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, also attended the meeting.

Link to article:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-03/pope-francis-calls-patriarch-kirill-orthodox-patriarch-ukraine.html

 

National Catholic Reporter:

Pope Francis in video conference with Russian Patriarch Kirill rejects religious defense of invasion

ROME — Pope Francis on March 16 spoke by video conference with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. In the call, the two religious leaders pledged their respective commitments to securing peace.

A Vatican communique stated that Francis rejected the justifications for the invasion as a “holy war,” saying “today we cannot speak like this.”

“Christian awareness of the importance of peace has developed,” said Francis. In recent weeks, Kirill has previously used religious language to justify his support for Russia’s military aggression.

According to the Vatican statement, the conversation focused “on the war in Ukraine and the role of Christians and their pastors in doing everything possible for peace to prevail.”

Link to article:

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-video-conference-russian-patriarch-kirill-rejects-religious-defense?utm_source=NCR+List&utm_campaign=9f9a63d1fe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_03_16_06_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6981ecb02e-9f9a63d1fe-230658942

 

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One Comment

  1. Eddie Finnegan says:

    Pope to Russian Patriarch…

    President Vladimir Putin to Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev (aka Patriarch Kirill): ‘Your Holiness, how many divisions does the Pope have?’
    (after Stalin apocrypha, Teheran 1943.)

    Reply

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