Pope Francis will not have an anticipated mid-September sitdown with Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill, the Moscow cleric’s second-in-command said Wednesday.
According to an RIA Novosti news agency report, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk said the cleric will not lead the Russian Orthodox delegation to the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, to be held in Kazakhstan on Sept. 14 and 15.
As such, the Russian Orthodox leader has “no plans” to meet with Pope Francis on the sidelines of that event.
A dialogue between the two religious leaders, which would have happened nearly seven months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was seen by observers as a possible way to move both sides toward peace.