Apparently, the Orthodox did not like Francis’ statements to Corriere della Sera.

Newsroom (May 6, 2022, 3:30 PM, Gaudium Press) The Moscow Patriarchate did not like the statements made by Pope Francis to Corriere della Sera, published yesterday, about the conversation Francis had with the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow Kirill last March 16.

So much so that the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Ecclesiastical Relations (DECR) issued a statement, saying that “Pope Francis chose the wrong tone to convey the content of this conversation,” also stating that “they 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.”

What did the Pope tell Corriere della Sera?

When the director of Corriere asked the Pope if Kirill would be the man to convince Putin to open an exit door, Francis replied: “I spoke with Kirill for 40 minutes through Zoom. The first twenty, card in hand, he read me all the justifications for the war. I listened and told him: I don’t understand any of this”. And Francis noted: “Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use the language of politics, but that of Jesus, we are shepherds of the same holy people of God, for that we must seek ways of peace, to end the fire of arms. The Patriarch cannot become Putin’s coronet. I had a meeting scheduled with him in Jerusalem for June 14. It would be our second face-to-face, nothing to do with war. But now he also agrees: let’s stop, it could be an ambiguous signal.”

With Infocatholic information.

Compiled by Zephania Gangl