CNS, Vatican
Russian patriarch cancels visit to Kazakhstan
UPDATE: Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who was expected to meet Pope Francis at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, will not attend the interreligious gathering in September, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, said.
Metropolitan Volokolamsk confirmed to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti that the patriarch would not attend the September 13 to 15 meeting in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan.
However, Metropolitan Anthony, who met with the pope at the Vatican August 5, said there was still hope for the pope and the patriarch to meet and that an eventual meeting between the two “must be an independent event by virtue of its importance.”
While the purpose of Pope Francis’ September 13 to 15 visit to Kazakhstan will be to attend the Congress of World and Traditional Religions, the interreligious meeting would also have served as the backdrop for his long-awaited, now postponed, meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill [Sunday Examiner, July 24].
The pope has been wanting to meet with the patriarch for months, telling Univision, the Spanish-language network, in an interview that aired in the United States on July 11 that he planned to meet with the patriarch during his visit to Kazakhstan.
The pope told Univision that he has “a good relationship” with Patriarch Kirill, who has strongly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite their opposing views on the war, the pope said, “It is evident that his position is conditioned by his homeland in some way; which is not to say that he is an indecent man. No; God knows each person’s moral responsibilities in the depth of their hearts.”
Held every three years, the Congress of World and Traditional Religions was the initiative of Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, as a way of promoting dialogue among religions, the congress’ website stated.
Bishop Adelio Dell’Oro of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, said that while the outcome of a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill is yet to be seen, the significance of such a meeting taking place in Kazakhstan during the Congress of World and Traditional Religions is important
It added that another objective of the congress is to prevent “the use of religious feelings of people for the escalation of conflicts and hostilities.”
Bishop Adelio Dell’Oro of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, said that while the outcome of a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill is yet to be seen, the significance of such a meeting taking place in Kazakhstan during the Congress of World and Traditional Religions is important.
“It would be beautiful if that meeting would happen here and that there would be an understanding that religion is not at the service of the state, as Pope Francis told the patriarch during his online meeting with him,” Bishop Dell’Oro told SIR, the news agency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, in an interview published on July 1.
“It is important for spiritual leaders to affirm that religion is a factor of unity and reconciliation, and therefore it is a responsibility for those who are believers, especially if they are Christians, to recognise—beyond all differences and divisions—that Jesus is the one who unites us at the root,” The bishop said.
Patriarch Kirill’s outspoken support of the war on Ukraine of Russian president, Vladimir Putin, particularly his justification of the conflict as a defense against Western immorality, has caused ruptures within the Russian Orthodox Church and strained relations with the Catholic Church.
It would be beautiful if that meeting would happen here and that there would be an understanding that religion is not at the service of the state, as Pope Francis told the patriarch during his online meeting with him
Bishop Dell’Oro
Pope Francis has been especially blunt in reminding Patriarch Kirill of the proper role of a shepherd of the people.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, published on May 3, Pope Francis said that during a Zoom meeting in mid-March [Sunday Examiner, May 7], he told the patriarch, “Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use the language of politics, but of Jesus.”
The pope said, “The patriarch cannot turn himself into Putin’s altar boy.” However, the reminder did not go over well and prompted a critical response from the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Pope Francis chose an incorrect tone to convey the content of this conversation,” the patriarchate said on May 4. “Such statements are unlikely to contribute to the establishment of a constructive dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, which is especially necessary at the present time.”
Some Vatican officials—including Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity—have been more openly critical of the Russian patriarch.
In an interview published in late June with the German newspaper Die Tagespost, Cardinal Koch said Patriarch Kirill’s support of the invasion for “pseudo-religious reasons” amounted to “heresy.”
The whole time, the Russian Church was trying to use the Holy See, not from a Christian point of view, but from a political point of view; as an instrument to be used in favour of the Soviet state before and later, in the interest of the Russian state
Andrii Yurash
He also said he was grateful Pope Francis cancelled a proposed meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem, adding that a meeting between the two while “acts of war are still taking place” would “be exposed to serious misunderstandings.”
Cardinal Koch said, “This is because it could be misunderstood as the pope’s support of the patriarch’s position, which would badly damage the pope’s moral authority.”
Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, said on July 18 that although the Catholic Church has tried to establish closer ties with the Russian Orthodox Church “for more than half a century,” the war in Ukraine has shown the Moscow Patriarchate’s true colours.
“The whole time, the Russian Church was trying to use the Holy See, not from a Christian point of view, but from a political point of view; as an instrument to be used in favour of the Soviet state before and later, in the interest of the Russian state,” Yurash said.
Nevertheless, while relations between the two Churches may be strained, an interreligious meeting aimed at promoting peace and unity could prove timely.
Furthermore, Pope Francis’ presence at the meeting is the congress’ “greatest achievement” because he “is the most important and recognised international figure in the field of promoting dialogue between different nations, cultures and religions,” said Bishop José Luis Mumbiela Sierra of Holy Trinity in Almaty, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia, in an interview with Vatican News published on August 4.
“Evangelising also means strengthening social coexistence through dialogue and cordiality between those who profess different beliefs, or none at all,” Bishop Mumbiela said.
