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HomeEuropean NewsPope to go to Kazakhstan, could meet Russian Orthodox patriarch – EURACTIV.com

Pope to go to Kazakhstan, could meet Russian Orthodox patriarch – EURACTIV.com


Pope Francis will attend a gathering of non secular leaders in Kazakhstan in September, the Vatican stated on Monday (1 August), a gathering the place he has stated beforehand he hoped to satisfy with the Russian Orthodox patriarch, who backs the warfare in Ukraine.

Francis is about to be within the capital Nur-Sultan from 13 to fifteen September to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Conventional Religions, the Vatican stated.

Kazakhstan has an extended custom of organizing such conferences, selling inter-religious dialogue and tolerance.

Spiritual leaders elevate their flags at Astana gathering

Kazakhstan obtained reward as we speak (10 October) for internet hosting for the sixth time the Congress of the Leaders of World and Conventional Religions, which historically points messages of peace, mutual respect and tolerance. A couple of spiritual leaders nonetheless defended their international locations controversial insurance policies.

The pope has stated in a number of current interviews that he hopes to satisfy within the Kazakh capital with patriarch Kirill, who has given his full-throated backing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February.

Francis had deliberate to satisfy Kirill on 14 June in Jerusalem however cancelled that assembly on the recommendation of Vatican diplomats.

If the September assembly takes place, it will be solely their second after they met in Cuba in 2016. The latter was the primary such assembly between a pope and a frontrunner of the Russian Orthodox Church because the Nice Schism in 1054.

The Vatican assertion saying the journey didn’t point out Kirill. It was launched in Russian, Italian and English. Kazakh and Russian are the nation’s two official languages.

The Ukraine warfare has triggered a rift between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).

In an interview printed in Could in an Italian newspaper, Francis stated Kirill “can not turn into Putin’s altar boy”. The ROC later chided the pope over the comment.

Kirill’s place has additionally splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an inside riot which has led to the severing of ties by some native Orthodox Church buildings with the ROC.

In June, Britain sanctioned Kirill for “his outstanding help of Russian army aggression in Ukraine”.

Hungary blocked an EU try to sanction him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a member of the ROC, has described Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as a “particular army operation” aimed toward demilitarising and “denazifying” the nation.

The pope has rejected such terminology. He has a number of instances implicitly accused Russia of “armed conquest, expansionism and imperialism” in Ukraine, and has referred to as the battle a “merciless and mindless warfare of aggression”.

In an interview with Reuters final month, Francis stated he wished to go to the Ukraine capital Kyiv after his return from Canada two days in the past, but additionally wished to go to Moscow to promoted peace.

The late Pope John Paul II visited the Kazakh capital in 2001, when it was generally known as Astana.

Kazakhstan and Pope John Paul II

100 years in the past, on Could 18, 1920, Karol Józef Wojtyła was born within the Polish city of Wadowice.

Main the Catholic Church since October 1978, Pope John Paul II left a vibrant and indelible mark within the historical past of mankind and cherished …



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