The meeting of Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, planned for June, in Jerusalem has been cancelled. The news was announced by the head of the Catholic Church himself to the Argentinian newspaper La Nación.
In the interview, Pope Francis expressed regret for the decision, but said that, according to Vatican diplomats, such a meeting "could cause a lot of complications" in the current situation.
The Reuters news agency reported last week that the Vatican is considering extending Pope Francis' June visit to Lebanon by one day so that the head of the church can meet with the patriarch in Jerusalem on June 14.
This would have been the second meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch. They first spoke to each other in person in Cuba in 2016, and this meeting was the first time that the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church had met since the Great Schism in the West in 1054.
Kirill has previously pledged his full support for Russia's offensive against Ukraine, and his stance has divided Orthodox communities around the world.
Pope Francis, on the other hand, has criticized Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions for the war, which he called aggression and invasion, and has repeatedly spoken out against the atrocities inflicted on civilians.
MTI
The cover photo shows Pope Francis and Kirill, the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, in the transit lounge at the José Martí International Airport in Havana on February 12, 2016. Source: MTI/EPA/AFP pool/Adalberto Roque
