During a meeting with Pope Francis’s special envoy for Ukraine on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden shared his wishes for the pontiff’s “continued ministry and global leadership,” according to a brief White House statement, but the two men apparently did not identify any specific new pathways to peace.
Italian Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Pope Francis’s personal envoy for the Ukraine-Russia war, will meet with President Joe Biden on July 18 as part of his current trip to Washington to promote peace and discuss solutions to the conflict, the White House has announced.
Pope Francis’s personal envoy for the Ukraine-Russia war, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, is in Washington this week in a bid to advance talks on humanitarian relief and peace efforts, the Vatican announced Monday.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who was expected to meet Pope Francis at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, will not attend the interreligious gathering in September, a senior Russian Orthodox bishop said.
Pope Francis’ September visit to Kazakhstan will mostly focus on a gathering of religious leaders from around the world, but it will also include a Mass and meeting with Catholics in this Muslim-majority nation.
Pope Francis said he plans to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in September at an interreligious meeting in Kazakhstan.
Sitting in a wheelchair in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis allowed himself to be grilled by a group of youngsters, including one who asked when he would go to Ukraine “to save all the children who are suffering there.”
In its second appeal to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, the World Council of Churches asked that he use his spiritual authority to call for a ceasefire in Ukraine over the Eastern Orthodox Easter season so that believers will be able to celebrate the holiday in peace.
Although Russia’s Catholics hold different views about the conflict in Ukraine, a spokesman for the country’s bishops said all are united in welcoming Pope Francis’ plan to consecrate their country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 in a service at the Vatican.
Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill spoke via video conference about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the hopes for a peaceful solution, the Vatican said.
