Pope says he wants to go to Moscow to meet Putin over Ukraine - paper

[Chris]

Pope says he wants to go to Moscow to meet Putin over Ukraine - paper
Pope Francis told Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper that Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has given the war his full-throated backing, "cannot become Putin's altar boy."
By REUTERS
Published: MAY 3, 2022

Pope Francis said in an interview published on Tuesday that he asked for a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to stop the war in Ukraine but had not received a reply. The pope also told Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper that Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has given the war his full-throated backing, "cannot become Putin's altar boy."

Francis, who made an unprecedented visit to the Russian embassy when the war started, told the newspaper that about three weeks into the conflict, he asked the Vatican's top diplomat to send a message to Putin. The message was "that I was willing to go to Moscow. Certainly, it was necessary for the Kremlin leader to allow an opening. We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting." He added: "I fear that Putin cannot, and does not, want to have this meeting at this time. But how can you not stop so much brutality?"

more............. https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-705738

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

It's about time

 

[athenasius]

This may be well meant or not.

The Pope's language is an insult to Patriarch Kirill.

I tend to think having watched Pope Francis in action since he replaced a living pope no less, that it is a calculated insult and not an accident.

Very little that Francis does is by accident.

He and the Patriarch are continuing a millennia old war between the Eastern and Western legs of the Roman Empire. There is no love lost between them.

Here is how it's being received as I expected.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...eeting-between-putin-pope-francis-2022-05-04/

"May 4 (Reuters) - The Russian Orthodox Church scolded Pope Francis on Wednesday for using the wrong tone after he urged Patriarch Kirill not to become the Kremlin's "altar boy", cautioning the Vatican that such remarks would hurt dialogue between the churches.

Francis told Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper that Kirill, who has given the Ukraine war his backing, "cannot become [President Vladimir] Putin's altar boy".

The Russian Orthodox Church said it was regrettable that a month and a half after Francis and Kirill, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, had spoken directly, the pope had adopted such a tone.

"Pope Francis chose an incorrect tone to convey the content of this conversation," the Moscow Patriarchy said, though it did not explicitly mention the "altar boy" comment.

"Such statements are unlikely to contribute to the establishment of a constructive dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches, which is especially necessary at the present time."

Kirill, 75, a close ally of Putin, sees the war as a bulwark against a West he considers decadent, particularly over the acceptance of homosexuality.

The Russian Orthodox Church is by far the biggest of the churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which split with Western Christianity in the Great Schism of 1054. Today it has about 100 million followers within Russia and more outside."

I've read reports that the Patriarch Kirill views the Catholic Church much like Putin views NATO, an existential threat.

Francis let his peacemaker mask slip for a moment there. There is a definite drive in him to conquer the world and bring all the religions in under the umbrella of the Catholic Church, with him at the top.

He doesn't like Kirill and it's mutual.

 

[athenasius]

And if it's calculated, which I think, then it makes me wonder if Francis is working for his globalist friends here to inflame tensions and raise anger in Russia. Like Biden's handlers seem to be doing.

Kirill is the Pope's equivalent in the Russian Orthodox church, not an "altar boy". As the supreme leader of that church he shouldn't be called an "altar boy".

 

[daygo]

And if it's calculated, which I think, then it makes me wonder if Francis is working for his globalist friends here to inflame tensions and raise anger in Russia. Like Biden's handlers seem to be doing.

Kirill is the Pope's equivalent in the Russian Orthodox church, not an "altar boy". As the supreme leader of that church he shouldn't be called an "altar boy".

Interesting athanasius.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

Putin is an atheistic Communist, I don't see how the Pope could have any influence over him.

 

[kathymendel]

Since when does this pope have any influence over anyone?
He certainly has no control over priests, etc. who sexually assault children in his church.
When have his words had any good influence over any political situation lately?
He needs to butt out..........

 

[Andy C]

Yawn……

 

[Tall Timbers]

Putin is an atheistic Communist, I don't see how the Pope could have any influence over him.

Putin has his church, the Orthodox. He attends church on "high" religious holidays and has done much to restore and construct thousands of Orthodox churches across Russia. I don't think he would be interested in hearing what the western/globalish pope has to say. I don't believe he sees the catholic pope as any type of authority figure when it comes to Mother Russia.

 

[athenasius]

Putin has his church, the Orthodox. He attends church on "high" religious holidays and has done much to restore and construct thousands of Orthodox churches across Russia. I don't think he would be interested in hearing what the western/globalish pope has to say. I don't believe he sees the catholic pope as any type of authority figure when it comes to Mother Russia.

He would see it as another attempt to meddle with Mother Russia and it would annoy him more.