-Very nice to meet you.
-Very nice to see you.
-Thank you, thank you.
This is how Pope Francis greeted Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, the minister of external relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, at the Vatican.
They met for nearly an hour. It was their second meeting in just a few months.
The Pope anticipated the main theme of their meeting on his return flight from Athens in early December.
POPE FRANCIS
'A meeting with Patriarch Kirill is on the not-too-distant horizon. I think that next week Hilarion will comw to arrange a possible meeting, because the Patriarch has to travel—I don't remember where he's going... Finland, but I'm not sure. I'm always willing, I'm also willing to go to Moscow. There are no rules for dialogue with a brother.'
The meeting would be very important because the Russian Orthodox Church is the largest, and is currently threatening to excommunicate the Patriarch of Constantinople. This would further complicate dialogue among Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
The first and only meeting between the Pope and the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow took place at Cuba's Havana Airport in 2016.
POPE FRANCIS
'We are brothers. We have the same baptism. We are bishops.'
On this occasion, Patriarch Kirill's representative gave the Pope a replica of an icon from the Theology Academy of St. Petersburg, where the Patriarch studied.
POPE FRANCIS
'Thank you. Thank him for me.'
Pope Francis gave the the bishop a mosaic of Our Lady “Synkatabasis of God,” which the Pope calls by a much simpler name.
POPE FRANCIS
'The Mother of the “Ladder,” she is called. It's the name I've given her.'
Their goodbye was very cordial.
-Thank you, may God bless you. Give the Patriarch my best regards. I pray for you. You, pray for me.
-Thank you, Holy Father. May the Lord bless your work and give you long years of life and peace.
The Russian press has said that their next meeting could take place in the first half of 2022.
BGA
TR: CT
