Pope Francis Wants to Deepen the Dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church

Pope Francis is ready for dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all the eastern cyrilllic. This statement was made by the Pontiff during a meeting with Metropolitan Ilarion Volokamski and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church during a meeting with the head of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The meeting was held on May 30, the press service of the Holy See announced today. The Pope has expressed an intention to follow the "path of unity," which is the only right choice, while "the way of disagreement leads to war and destruction."

The Ecumenical Movement is a path to common Christian unity, Francis noted, urging representatives of the ROC to walk along this path. He recalled his historic meeting with Patriarch Kiril, held on February 12, 2016 in Cuba. These negotiations "gave very good results," and in the patriarch Francis saw his brother. In conclusion, the Pope stressed that the Catholic Church respects the ROC and will not interfere in its internal affairs.