A planned meeting next month between Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox church has been suspended, the pope has said.
Speaking to an Argentine newspaper, the pope said Vatican diplomats had advised that such a meeting “could lend itself to much confusion at this moment.”
The Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill has given his backing to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine – a stance that has splintered the Orthodox Church abroad – while Francis has been critical of the war.
The meeting was reportedly being lined up for 14 June in Jerusalem, a day after the pope finished a trip to Lebanon.
The pair have only met on one previous occasion, in Havana in 2016.
BBC News
