Paul KeenanPope Francis sent a personal message regarding "a meeting" to Russian Patriarch Kirill during his official visit to the Holy Land, it has been reported.
According to sources in Moscowís Synodal Department for External Relations and quoted by AsiaNews, the message, communicating the Pontiffís willingness to meet ìat any placeî was passed informally via Msgr Massimo Palombella, director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir, which performed in Moscow on May 27, to mark the fifth anniversary of the patriarchís enthronement. It was further reported that Patriarch Kirill expressed his thanks for the ìprecious giftî delivered but remained otherwise non-committal.
Relations between Moscow and Rome continue to be strained over the Ukraine crisis, with Patriarch Kirill critical of the Greek Catholic Church for perceived political interference there, something that Church has denied. That criticism was voiced just a day after the delivery of the Pontiff's message. However, on June 3, during an address in Minsk in Belarus, the head of the Russian Orthodox external relations office, Metropolitan Hilarion, while accusing some members of the Catholic Church of continuing to work against improved relations between the traditions, acknowledged that these are not representative of the entire Church. "There is a part of the Catholic Church that is investing energy, talent and resources to strengthen the interaction between Catholics and Orthodox," he said.