He noted that Metropolitan Hilarion visited Rome four times in the last year and met with Pope Francis twice, on June 15 and Oct. 21. The metropolitan has met with other Vatican leaders. He had a June 26 meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and several meetings with Cardinal Koch.
Fr. Destivelle wanted to reiterate that the Havana declaration was a "pastoral declaration" that intended to soften the polemics, even the polemics raised after the declaration was issued..
The declaration was at that time considered "Russophile" in some quarters. The Ukrainian religious agency RISU described it as such in its introduction to an interview with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Asked about his strong criticism of the declaration, Major Archbishop Shevchuk said that "some considered my words to be too harsh," but he then noted that the Pope himself "affirmed that that the declaration's text was not infallible, that it is not 'a page of the Gospel'."
"It should not be underestimated but it should also not be exaggerated," the archbishop said.
For Major Archbishop Shevchuk, an important result of the Havana meeting was that the Ukrainian Church began a conversation with the Holy See on these points.
"Certainly, even before this event, we always strove to inform the Vatican regarding the truth concerning the war in Ukraine," the archbishop said. "Nevertheless, after Havana, the global community was able to perceive our distress once again, by being reminded of the 'forgotten war' in Ukraine. Our pleas also resounded anew in the Vatican."
Archbishop Shevchuk also voiced appreciation for the progress of the Holy See, and recalled Cardinal Pietro Parolin's trip to Ukraine. On the other hand, he emphasized that Ukraine should invest more in relations with the Holy See.
Russia too is investing much in relations with the Holy See. While in Paris for the European Meeting between Catholic and Orthodox Bishops, Metropolitan Hilarion granted an interview to Italian Bishops Conference's news agency SIR.
In the interview, he underlined the good relations with the Holy See and in particular with Pope Francis. Though he said that another meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill is "not in the agenda," he said there are many things both Churches can do together.
"If our Churches speak joining their voices, our message is certainly stronger and of more impact," Metropolitan Hilarion said.
These are all the issues on the table that will likely be developed in the conference in Freibourg on Sunday. From Cuba to Switzerland, from Havana to the great hall of the university, many things have changed. But what has not changed is the strong desire for dialogue between the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow.
Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.