In a statement released on Wednesday, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed that a conversation took place in the early afternoon between Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
Mr. Bruni noted that Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, also attended the meeting.
War in Ukraine
The statement said their conversation focused “on the war in Ukraine and on the role of Christians and their pastors in doing everything to ensure that peace prevails.”
Pope Francis thanked the Patriarch for the meeting, motivated by the desire to point out, as shepherds of their people, a path to peace, to pray for the gift of peace and for a ceasefire.
The Pope said, in agreement with the Patriarch, that "The Church must not use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus.”
Pope Francis added that “we are shepherds of the same Holy People who believe in God, in the Holy Trinity, in the Holy Mother of God: that is why we must unite in the effort to aid peace, to help those who suffer, to seek ways of peace, and to stop the fire.”
Mr. Bruni also said the Pope and the Patriarch stressed the exceptional importance of the ongoing negotiation process, because, according to the Pope, "those who pay the price for war are the people; it is Russian soldiers and common people who are bombed and die."
Duty to aid suffering people
The statement continued quoting Pope Francis as saying that "as pastors we have the duty to be close to and help all people who are suffering from the war.”
Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill agreed that "the Churches are called to contribute to strengthening peace and justice."
Pope Francis concluded the video call, lamenting the cost of war.
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