For its part, the Moscow patriarchate said in a statement that, during the conversation, “the parties stressed the crucial importance of the ongoing negotiation process, expressing their hope that a just peace will be reached quickly.”
This is the first known contact between religious leaders since the conflict began.
The Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement that “humanitarian aspects of the ongoing crisis” and the importance of continuing peace talks were discussed.
They also discussed “actions that the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches could take to overcome its consequences,” the Russian side said.
The Vatican did not immediately release its transcript of the conversation, which took place via video call.
Kirill, 75, a close ally of the Russian president, has made statements defending Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and he sees the war as a bulwark against a West he sees as decadent, particularly because of its acceptance of homosexuality.
In his general audience on Wednesday, Francis raised the specter of nuclear war, in which whoever is left of humanity would have to start anew “the day after,” and appeared to ask God to stop the aggressor in Ukraine.
Metropolitan (Archbishop) Hilarion, of the Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign affairs office, and Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican Council for Christian Unity, also participated in the conversation, according to the Russian statement.
Source: Ambito
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