If you are like me, you have been watching the war in Ukraine with prayers for the innocent civilians caught in the mortar and missile attacks. I vacillate between excitement at the heroic defence of Ukraine by an outgunned and outnumbered civilian army and anger at the Russian war crimes exposed by the Ukrainian advances in recent months. Perhaps the most disturbing news has been the reports of statements from Patriarch Kirill, patriarch of Moscow and leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Patriarch Kirill and World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Fr Ioan Sauca met on 17 October in Moscow, discussing how churches are called to be peacemakers.

Also attending the meeting, which took place at the Patriarchal Residence in St Daniel’s Monastery, were Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Fr Mikhail Gundyaev, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the WCC and international organisations in Geneva; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; and Rev. Prof. Dr Benjamin Simon, WCC programme executive for Church Relations.
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Pope Francis said he plans to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in September at an interreligious meeting in Kazakhstan. The pope confirmed the meeting in an interview that aired in the United States July 11 on Univision, the Spanish-language network. “We are going to meet in Kazakhstan in September because there is a religious meeting” there that both have promised to attend, he said.

Although the Vatican has not officially announced the visit, Kazakh authorities said the pope confirmed his participation at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions during a Zoom meeting in April with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The interreligious meeting will take place in the capital city, Nur-Sultan, Sept. 14-15.

Despite their opposing views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the pope told Univision that he has “a good relationship” with the Russian patriarch. However, he said, “it is evident that his position is conditioned by his homeland in some way; which is not to say that he is an indecent man. No; God knows each person’s moral responsibilities in the depth of their hearts.”
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The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, paid a private visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace yesterday (Tuesday). Patriarch Kirill was in the UK to mark the 300th anniversary of the Diocese of Sourozh – the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain and Ireland. Earlier, Archbishop Welby and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, were in attendance when Patriarch Kirill visited The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Bishop Chartres takes the lead on the C of E’s relationships with the Orthodox Churches, and was also present at Lambeth Palace for the meeting with Patriarch Kirill and his delegation.

Archbishop Welby and Patriarch Kirill spoke about “their shared compassion for Christian, and other, minorities in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, where they have been systematically targeted and persecuted and their communities decimated,” a Lambeth Palace spokesperson said.
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In a letter congratulating Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad on his election as the new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed the appreciation of the worldwide ecumenical fellowship for this “outstanding Orthodox theologian, leader and hierarch.”
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Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been elected as the new head of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Orthodox Church after serving a period as interim leader and following an election in which he got an overwhelming majority of votes.
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The delegates to the Church Council meeting underway in Moscow have elected Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
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