By Kostas Onisenko
Metropolitan Volokolamsk spoke about his participation in the meetings that took place a few days ago on the initiative of the Pope of Rome at the Vatican, commenting on the communication he had with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Speaking on his weekly show “Church and World” which is broadcast every Saturday on the Russian state channel “Russia 24”, Hilarion referred to the encounter he had with the Ecumenical Patriarch.
“Any comprehensive communication between me and Patriarch Bartholomew did not exist and was not foreseen. But we participated together in two events organized by Pope Francis – one dedicated to climate change and the other dedicated to education – and sat with a seat between us.
In one case, the Archbishop of Canterbury was sitting between us, and in the other, a representative of another religious denomination was sitting between us.
Both times we were at these events, we greeted each other. And that is where our communication was exhausted, “said the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk.
Referring to the possibility of the Pope’s visit to Moscow, Metropolitan Hilarion stated that there is no preparation for such a thing, as well as that there are no conditions for such a thing to happen.
However, he did not rule out a meeting between the Pope of Rome and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in the future.