Pope cancels meeting with ROC Primate: "Now is not the time"

Pope Francis has announced that his meeting with Patriarch Kirill, scheduled for June, will not take place, reports the Argentine newspaper La Nacion.

"I regret that the Vatican had to cancel the meeting with Patriarch Kirill that we had planned for June in Jerusalem. But our diplomacy understands that a meeting at that time could lead to great confusion," Francis said, stressing that he has always advocated interreligious dialogue.

The pontiff also explained why he did not go to Kyiv.

"I cannot do anything that jeopardises the higher goals, which are the end of the war, the truce or at least the organisation of humanitarian corridors. What good does a trip to Kyiv do to the Pope if the war continues the next day?" he asked.

At the same time, the Pope described his relations with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church as "very good".

As reported, President Zelensky asked the Pope to mediate in negotiations with Russia. 

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