Moscow, Russia, May 4, 2022 / 09:51 am
The Russian Orthodox Church on Wednesday described Pope Francis’ recent comments about his discussion of the Ukraine war with Patriarch Kirill as “regrettable.”
The Moscow Patriarchate’s external relations department said in a May 4 statement that the pope’s words were “unlikely to contribute to the establishment of a constructive dialogue” between the Catholic Church and Russian Orthodox Church.
The pope and the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia discussed the war during a video conference call on March 16. In an interview with an Italian newspaper published on May 3, Pope Francis said that “a patriarch can’t lower himself to become Putin’s altar boy.”
The statement issued by the communications service of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR) said: “It is regrettable that a month and a half after the conversation with Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis chose the wrong tone to convey the content of this conversation.”