He met with Lavrov a day after speaking with Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, whose role as President of the Department for External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate makes him more or less number-two in the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the discussion, concerns surrounding conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East also came up as major talking points.
Attention was immediately brought to the "tragic situation of Christians in the Middle East," which Metropolitan Hilarion called "one of the most burning problems today."
Reference was made to the efforts on the part of the Moscow patriarchate to provide humanitarian aid to suffering populations in Syria, as well as an ad hoc working group that has been established to help broker greater cooperation with the Presidential Commission for Cooperation with Religious Associations, and includes several representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, as well as Muslim communities and several other Christian confessions.
Both parties agreed that in order to reach a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis "it is necessary to put an end to terrorism in the territory of Syria," and only after peace has been reached should "its political future be determined."
The two voiced their agreement on the need to consult each other more often on the Middle Eastern crisis, and to continue cooperation in providing humanitarian aid to the area.
On Ukraine, Metropolitan Hilarion took issue with several bills he said are aimed at "discriminating against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church" and which are still on the agenda for Ukraine's parliament. He thanked Cardinal Parolin and the Holy See for supporting the stand taken by the Moscow patriarchate on the issue.
Concern was raised by Metropolitan Hilarion regarding what he called "cases of politicized statements and aggressive actions" on the part of some members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
However, he and Cardinal Parolin were able to voice a shared conviction that "politics should not interfere in Church life," and stressed the important role that Churches in Ukraine play in terms of peacemaking and in helping to "establish a civic accord in the country."
Discussion between the two closed after touching on various opportunities for greater bilateral collaboration in the cultural and educational fields.
Following his meeting with Lavrov this morning, Cardinal Parolin is set to visit with Patriarch Kirill later on in the evening, and the two will hold a brief press conference afterward.
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On Aug. 23, the last day of his visit, Cardinal Parolin will head to Sochi for an official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting marks the last official event on the cardinal's schedule before his return to Rome Aug. 24.
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.