WelCom June/July 2022
Pope Francis has challenged Patriarch Kirill over his support of the war in Ukraine warning that the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church ‘cannot become Putin’s altar boy’.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Francis explained that during their 40-minute Zoom discussion in March the Patriarch spent half of it reading out justifications for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘I listened and told him: I don’t understand anything about this. Brother, we are not state clerics, we cannot use the language of politics, but that of Jesus,’ the Pope said. ‘We are shepherds of the same holy people of God. That is why we must seek ways of peace.’
He added: ‘The Patriarch cannot become Putin’s altar boy.’
In 2016, Francis managed to secure an historic meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Havana, Cuba, the first in nearly 1,000 years since the split between Eastern orthodoxy and Rome. The pair had planned a second encounter in Jerusalem on June 14, but that has been called off.
The Pope told the Italian daily newspaper that he has offered to meet President Putin in Moscow as part of the Holy See’s peace efforts, but the Kremlin has yet to respond. ‘I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting right now,’ Francis said, adding that he has no plans to go to Ukraine.
Since the war began in February, the Pope has repeatedly condemned the invasion of Ukraine and the suffering inflicted on the Ukrainian people. He has, however, avoided mentioning Russia and Putin by name as the Vatican has sought to work its diplomatic channels and maintain dialogue with the Russian orthodox leadership. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, has offered the Vatican’s services as a mediator.
Source: The Tablet UK
More details produced about reported abuse in New Zealand Catholic Church
WelCom June/July 2022 Continuing research has produced further details of where and by whom much of the reported abuse in the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand was committed. The…
A compliment Christians pay to one another
WelCom June/July 2022 + John A Cardinal Dew, Archbishop of Wellington Archdiocese, Apostolic Administrator of Palmerston North Diocese The Acts of the Apostles recounts, among other things, the story of…
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Michael Gielen as Bishop of Christchurch
WelCom June/July 2022 Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Michael Gielen (50) as the new Bishop of Christchurch. Bishop Gielen has been the Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland since March 2020. He…