Why Did the Pope Cancel His Meeting with Patriarch Kirill?

 REUTERS/Tony Gentile – RTX1L91Q

I think what really going on is the same thing that has always been going on:  Pope Francis wants to be credited with unity with the Orthodox Church and he doesn’t care how it happens.  

He doesn’t care if it’s with Bartholomew, who is frankly looking a bit peakèd these days since he couldn’t get the ancient patriarchates (and Cyprus) to meet or get anyone from the other local Churches to put on an apron with him to make chrism. 

Or if it’s with Patriarch Kirill. 

What people don’t know, is uniting with the Ecumenical Patriarch was not necessarily Plan A for the Pope.

Nope.  “Plan A” was about uniting with Patriarch Kirill, which was discussed when Pope Francis met with him in Havana in 2014. That’s why the Pope came out in support of Kirill when he said he was the ONLY hierarch over Ukraine.

Bartholomew only became “Plan B” when it seemed he would be able to pull off Crete in 2016.  He failed to do.   Rumor has it that the Pope was waiting in the corridors to be brought out after Bartholomew announced they had redefined the meaning of “Church” to be all-inclusive.

Then, when all the bishops started meeting in Moscow in the fall of 2017, Pope Francis had to rethink everything and go back to Plan A.  Remember?  That’s when this blog started talking about the bromance between Bartholomew and Pope Francis, wondering whether or not it was over as they went from being together in every selfie to being apart.

Then the United States butted in and made a deal with Bartholomew to break up the Russian Church’s hold over Ukraine with a faux church.  The grand poobah was forced into Ukraine by the State Department which led to incontrovertible proof that Bartholomew’s brother bishops did not and will not support him when it comes to Ukraine.  Not even for appearance’s sake.  

Pope Francis was knee-deep (maybe that’s why his knee hurts so much) in discussions with both hierarchs about unity when war broke out in Ukraine.  He’s not a stupid man.  He knows Russia is going to win and the world will just have to live with it.

So why is he now canceling the June meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem? 

Because the Holy See “does not want the potential meeting to be exploited amid the Russia-Ukraine war and it did not want to be drawn into intra-Orthodox debates.”  He said so himself.  Picking a side is a bit more precarious for the Pope than when they planned this meeting back in October. 

For the Pope, the optics are terrible. 

You could see his dilemma playing out over Fatima.  First, he was going to consecrate Russia to give Pat. Kirill a nod, and then he thought the better of it and gave Bartholomew a nod by adding Ukraine.  

Of course, this is precisely what (according to the Catholics) the Lady of Fatima did NOT want!  She wanted R-U-S-S-I-A consecrated and said so multiple times!  How many times have they gotten this wrong?!   

It’s no secret that the Pope is a globalist, and any self-respecting globalist cannot see a reason for war unless it’s a particularly dirty one, as in killing millions of people with a virus/vaccine to cull the population.  Globalists are 100% behind something like that because on the surface it looks so respectable.  

But not the kind of war where you soil your britches and one side wins.  That, they are not for, at all.  Oh, good grief, no!  I can just hear the whining as they clutch their pearls:  Does one side actually have to win?  Where are the participation trophies?  They’re bullying that poor little Ukraine.  Shame on them.  It’s all so uncivilized.  

Reminds me of my mother when she insisted my stepfather (a lovely man) put his award-winning bowling ball into the closet the day after they were married, never to be used again:  “I’m sorry, dear, but you’re going to have to give that up.  Bowling is the sport of the proletariat.”  If my mother knew I had anything to do with this blog, she would disown me from wherever she is at the moment.  Like Patriarch Kirill, I just pray.  I’m not in a position to take sides on her salvation.  That decision has been made.

Pope Francis is in a pickle.  He needs one of our hierarchs to unite with the Catholic Church and Kirill was looking like the better candidate back in October, especially if the Pope could spin it around Jerusalem, as he did earlier with Bartholomew.  

Jerusalem was considered an ideal location for various reasons. For one, the Moscow patriarchate does not view it as a place where the Orthodox are discriminated against. It is, above all, a neutral territory outside of Europe, where Catholic-Orthodox tensions persist.

The historic first meeting between Pope Francis and Kirill took place at Havana airport in Cuba, another country outside Europe where the Orthodox do not consider themselves to be persecuted.

There was another idea: to echo in Jerusalem the landmark embraces of Athenagoras I and Paul VI in 1967 and Bartholomew I and Pope Francis in 2014. This act would have made it clear that both the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of Moscow have strong friendships with Rome.

For Moscow, it would have been a highly symbolic gesture, considering the climate of hostility that has existed with Constantinople since it recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, an autocephalous church that no longer depended on the Moscow Patriarchate as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had since the 17th century.

But paradoxically, the factors that made a Jerusalem meeting an attractive option prompted the pope to cancel the encounter — at least for now.  https://www.eurasiareview.com/02052022-pope-francis-and-patriarch-kirill-who-could-host-their-second-summit-analysis/

But then the mainstream media encouraged everyone to pull for Ukraine.  It was the one choice that seemed “right” after all the wrong choices we made about COVID.  Let’s stop thinking about the junk we put into our veins and root for the underdog!

Oh, you poor little Ukraine.  Russia actually expects you to keep the West out of your country.  How could they be so mean?  You want to do what you want, when you want, even though the West is poison to your culture.  (Trust us, we know; we created it.) 

Your president is a drug addict and even the good people of Europe are blowing you off.  They’re not interested in your problems unless it involves them and you don’t matter at the moment.   They’ll probably just sanction Russia in solidarity but we’ve been down this path before.  

You’re beginning to look like a “money pit.”

Even Kristalina Georgieva, the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), admitted that central banks worldwide printed too much money, not thinking of the “unintended consequences” of helping too many people get what they want.  (Something about chasing a soccer ball.)

The point is: no one has the money to keep you in the game with Russia so you can go at it like two gladiators.  Even YOU know they’re going to win.

We get it!  You HATE Russia.  Yes, we’ve heard.  Not a mild hate like I hate football.  No, the particular HATE you have for Russia runs deep.  Of course, when you flesh it out a bit it’s really the Soviet Union you hate, right?  It’s communism and it’s that “CHURCH”; the one half of you don’t want anything to do with.  You would rather create a new one and call it the old one, even though to the rest of the world, there is but ONE Church and it’s the one that figures prominently in Russia, as it used to in yours.  And guess what?  Your cathedrals look exactly the same!  The robes you wear are the same.  You even speak the same language!  (How the United States would love to have that; we have a different church on every corner. ) 

An observation from Mr M:  you cannot have a culture or civilization (or even a polity) that is built on a singular foundation of hatred towards another.  It’s impossible.  Sure, hatreds between nations can –and do–run deep (hey, I’m Greek, I know what I’m talking about) but for an ethnos to survive there has to be positive qualities to counterbalance the negative.  Things like art, literature and industry, among other things.  They must also have a legitimate origin-story, not one that is retroactively inserted into the history books, especially when it is obvious that (a) said ethnicity did not exist at the time in question, and (b) they weren’t responsible for those inventions that you constantly brag about.  At the very least, a country must be resilient and open to innovation.  Word to the wise:  People that stew in their incessant hatreds can never –and will never–progress.  

Please!  For your own sakes.  Give it up, Ukraine! 

Sign the papers and tell your clergy to quit criticizing Patriarch Kirill for not putting his foot in his mouth like all those well-meaning, but not too smart clerics, who think that not verbally coming to your defense is not only a sin, it’s a punishable offense!  “How dare he say nothing!”  They exclaim.  “He should be deposed!!!”

By whom, my dears?  You and what army?  (A little levity never hurts anyone.)  

So enough about Ukraine.  I’m sorry for your troubles but I would like you to have something left of your country for those 5 million people who had to flee.  Leave something for them to come back to.  They are the true victims in all of this.

As far as Patriarch Kirill is concerned, he seems to be taking the Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 route, a well-known passage that deals with the balanced, cyclical nature of life and says that there is a proper time for everything:

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”  (Sign the papers, Ukraine!  Get this over with.)

Mrs. M

 

 

 

           

Comments

  1. Respectfully: One point in the article I don’t quite agree with is your assessment that Pope Francis (and Benedict before him) has been seriously targeting the Moscow Patriarchate for Union like in “Plan A.” Reciprocally, the MP has not seriously considered doing that. Rome knows that the MP is more traditionalist than the EP. Everyone who knows religious politics – and believe you me, the Vatican has experts on all of these topics, and on each local Orthodox Church, who brief the Pope and Cardinals – knows that Moscow is much much less likely to try and unite with Rome, than Constantinople.

    Constantinople is more Modernistic and more open to ecumenical (not a pun) activities. Although the MP does certainly participate in ecumenical activities, and is not as standoffish as critics of Ecumenism would prefer, that Patriarchate has neither the political motivation to become Uniate, nor even the mildest ideological desire. Rather, the MP and Rome are simply two very powerful ecclesiastical bodies. It is natural for such organizations to communicate more frequently than say, the much smaller Bulgarian Orthodox church, which has little contact with Roman Catholics. On the other hand, the MP has had much more continuous contact with the Roman Catholics, going back centuries and even now. The MP has close contacts with local Roman Catholics in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia.

    Why was Rome so interested (and still interested) in the MP? Probably for the reasons I’ve stated above, but simply as a way of maintaining dialogue with the Orthodox world. How could they ignore a player as big as the MP? Rome likely wants to engage as much of the Orthodox Church as possible. But they know the political and doctrinal conditions. Expecting Union with Moscow is unrealistic. The EP on the other hand: that’s another story. But talking to Moscow probably helps the cause of Rome, since it’s direct engagement with someone connected to the target.

    In one of the other articles (I forgot if it was in your text, or in the comments section) there were the various links to the illuminating articles written by Orthodox History on the relationship of the EP to the western power elites. There was also word a while back about Patriarch Bartholomew talking openly about changing the date of Pascha, and about Union with Rome. There is a high probability that the EP is open to Uniatism, and that could occur within the next decade. I would love for that to not be the case, and am open to reading sources from the EP indicating the contrary.

    Unlike the MP, the EP has some motivation for Union. The political connection to the heterodox west is already there. The power structure reaches east to Istanbul. The connections are there, unlike with the MP. The EP also must use relations with the west to leverage protection from the Turkish government. Plus, it seems that the EP has been on the trajectory of Uniatism for about a century. They’ve been the target all along.

    As for the Pope canceling the meeting with Patriarch Kirill: that’s political correctness on Rome’s part. The MP is getting trashed right now by the media and elites of the heterodox west, of which Rome is a part. Let’s face it, the MP has been in their cross hairs for a long time. All that “soft power” business that they pretend only the Russians do. Patriarch Kirill is persona non grata to the west, which persistently tries to isolate the MP.

  2. Michael D. Polovino says

    Because Kirill is a war criminal

    • Gail Sheppard says

      So what makes him a war criminal? Specifically, what travesty did Patriarch Kirill commit? Here’s a list. Pick one. Did he . . .

      01. Transfer, directly or indirectly, of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory
      02. Attack protected objects
      03. Attack undefended places
      04. Attack personnel or objects involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping missions
      05. Attack objects or persons using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions
      06. Attack civilians
      07. Attack civilian objects
      08. Conduct biological experiments
      09. Compel services in hostile forces
      10. Compel participation in military operations
      11. Participate in cruel treatment; deny quarter; deprive the nationals of the hostile power of rights or actions
      12. Destroy or seize the enemy’s property
      13. Destroy property
      14. Employ prohibited bullets; employ prohibited gases, liquids, materials, or devices;
      15. Employ poison or poisoned weapons; enforced sterilization; enforced prostitution; excessive incidental death, injury, or damage; forced pregnancy; improper use of a flag, insignia, or uniform of the hostile party; improper use of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions; improper use of a flag of truce; improper use of a flag, insignia or uniform of the United Nations; inhuman treatment; killing or wounding a person hors de combat; medical or scientific experiments; murder; mutilation; outrages upon personal dignity; pillaging; rape; sentencing or execution without due process; sexual violence; sexual slavery; starvation as a method of warfare; taking hostages; torture; treacherously killing or wounding; unlawful deportation and transfer; unlawful confinement; using protected persons as shields; wilful killing; willfully causing great suffering.

      Maybe this is why he kept his mouth shut and separated himself from this war. If he had given his verbal support to either Russia or Ukraine, he would be complicit in the crimes they commit.

      Sometimes it is reasonable to just say nothing. That he loves the Ukrainian people is a given; just as much as he loves the Russian people. It is not fair to expect him to choose one over the other. Nor is it fair of you to slander him like you just did.

    • Yes, you’re right. I’m totally convinced now, thank you.

  3. Why Did the Pope Cancel His Meeting with Patriarch Kirill?

    You hit the nail on the head, Gail…optics. Francis is the religious head of Globalism and since he is part of that globalist power structure he has to shun Russia along with everyone else in the West.

    Kissing the Koran, perfect!
    Praising Pachamama, you got it!
    Praying on a pagan temple in Iraq, why not

    Meeting with the Russian patriarch, nope.

    God works in mysterious ways and I think we should be thinking Him that Patriarch Kirill and Francis will not be meeting. When Francis eventually goes to, and fawns over, the “Abrahamic house” in the UAE I’m sure we in Orthodoxy will take a collective breath and thank God that that partnership fell through.

    As for Bartholomew, you’re right, he was second best. If Francis does receive him, what does he get? An aging ethnophylatist in a Muslim city, A miniscule flock of Greeks and a whole lot of violent n-a-z-i schismatics in Ukraine who will undoubtedly cannibalize the UGCC eventually. I say let Francis have them.

  4. Galinushka,

    All I can say is that these people of whom you speak are much more evil and vile than you give them credit for. The RCC is a synagogue of Satan. Bartholomew wants in. Kirill formerly played footsie with the West when it seemed conducive to business but that train left some time ago. Now he risks his bishops ceasing to commemorate him if he meets with the pope again. But the MP is a work in progress. He still does stupid things. Agreeing to this second meeting is one of them. Do not meet with the devil.

    The pope is not sitting on any fence. He is cheerleading for Ukraine and against Russia. As I said in another post, this is a Catholic v. Orthodox war. It’s just that Bartholomew and the Greeks who follow him are traitors. It’s all completely black and white. The only shades of gray were in Kirill’s head back when Russia was trying to fit in with the West.

    Thank God Almighty those days are over!

    The Western media has already started going after Kirill. They have no shame. As an Orthodox hierarch, he has an obligation to pray for victory for his country in time of war. But nothing can change the fact that Russia is right in this conflict and Ukraine/NATO are dead wrong, and I mean morally. Many years to Patriarch Kirill and to Vladimir Putin.

    Perhaps the opprobrium he faces will educate him as to the true nature of the western demons.

    • Brendan says

      The usual anti-Russian “ecumenical coalition”
      has a new member!

      https://thesaker.is/the-usual-anti-russian-ecumenical-coalition-has-a-new-member/

    • I agree Misha. I really think the collective west is spiritually sick. How else can you explain the hypocrisy, hysteria, doublespeak, lies and cognitive dissonance??? How could one explain the sanctions that only hurt yourself more while only inconveniencing your adversary. At the same time evading your own sanctions (Poland wants a ban on oil, refuses to pay it in Rubles, but will accept same Russian oil thru reverse flow at higher price). This illogical thinking points to an emotional visceral hate towards Russia (in a war they have no need to be involved with) which the collective west extends by threatening countries like China and India for their neutrality. This is non-human behaviour, it’s other worldly. To add the icing on the cake the collective west’s blind eye on every other conflict many of which they caused can only point to some sort of mass psychological delusion inflicting the collective west.

      • Gail Sheppard says

        The hatred is visceral and as you said, illogical.

        I remember my grandmother telling me that my grandfather sweated bullets every time they had a trip planned. Apparently, he had lost a quarter of a million dollars in the depression and they had to live with my great-grandparents in Nogales, AZ. They even had to borrow a nickel for my mother for Sunday School.

        This did something to him and the thought of going anywhere and not staying home to make more money gave him such anxiety he could barely function. She said the second they got on the ship, or whatever, he was fine.

        Maybe going through a communist takeover that began in Russia is like that. They just can’t get over it; a form of PTSD

        With the west, we just didn’t see it. . . at all! We watched all those movies growing up where we were always the “good guys.” (Project Mockingbird at its finest.)

        Now, there is this sense of urgency in the air like they (UN, Rothchilds, Schwabbs) have to get this reset done and they are almost out of time. They’re dropping things and out of sync. They see this giant thing waking up and we’re it!

        We have been unaware of all the planning they’ve done and how far down the road they’ve gotten. But again, we’re just waking up and we’re disoriented. It’s like a loud alarm went off and it’s suddenly all hands on deck. We don’t know exactly what we’re supposed to do but we don’t have time to figure it out. We just have to act and pray we’re going in the right direction.

        When you think about it, it’s amazing how quickly we have adapted to having to rely on social media. Our ability to discern what’s true and what isn’t is almost instinctual at this point because there is nothing there to tell us what’s true and what isn’t.

        What it comes down to is whom do you trust? That’s why the Church is so important and why so many of us have been so disappointed with our hierarchs. They’re not in front of this and don’t seem to want to draw on the Holy Fathers, who prophesied about it. It’s like some of them are not really in touch with that part of the Church. They don’t know how to dig down deep to bring sustenance to the surface.

        I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pretend like I’m Saint Mary of Egypt in the desert! It’s not like that at all. She chose her world and found peace. We didn’t. Our world has been turned upside down. We might as well have been in a snow globe; we can barely see what’s in front of us.

        And yet we’re the ones criticized because some of them are on board with all this “reset” stuff. How did that happen?! They’re in the ORTHODOX CHURCH. Do they not see it’s a traditional Church? Since it’s not a good fit for them, why don’t they just leave? Why do they have to have THIS Church?

        Too many questions and too few answers.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Gail, Kosta,

          Given the extreme ukromania (which was preceded by COVID hysteria and then George Floyd hysteria), I am now more than ever convinced that the West has completely lost it.

          Not only do they completely go overboard in The Latest ThingTM but they lose all critical faculties when doing so. Then just as fast as you can say Jackie Robinson, they switch to something else, having completely forgotten the Previous Big ThingTM.

          We saw this during the Lockdown, when front line workers were lauded as war heroes. Then one year later, when several of them refused to take the jab, they were tossed aside like a used condom.

          And on to the next thing. Probably bestiality with a pitstop at paedophilia. (Notice how they’re not called “chickenhawks” or “child molesters” any more? Now, it’s “Minor Attracted Persons.” It’s all so clinical and –you know–compassionate.)

          We need more “diversity” and “inclusivity” after all. No doubt, the Fordhamites will write something profound about it.

        • Μωλον Λαβε says

          Dear Gail,
          I will provide a feeble attempt to provide some answers ? or at least try to lighten your concerns.
          During the Depression my grandparents lost everything, practically overnight – but they survived and thrived knowing The Lord was with them every step of the way.
          The oligarchs, elites, politicians and even a few of the hierarchy of our church have become vassals of the old bastard and many are not even aware of it – such is cognitive dissonance. And thus, the old bastard sows confusion and chaos.
          The fact remains that many more of us are steadfast in our love of Our Lord, knowing He is the only Truth and in Him we trust, knowing He will never abandon us and will guide us through any hardship we may may find ourselves in.
          As for myself, I take heart seeing the old oligarchy, the destroyers of nations, the genocidal of people, falling apart. The wages of sin are death.
          I see a bright golden lining to these dark clouds of despair. I take heart in that the Lord is with us and we must go through this cleansing to arrive to a better world, either here or in His Kingdom. His Word and Promise are eternal and permanent.
          The only power the old bastard has is that which one relinquishes to him, through fear, lies, sycophancy, and false promises in this world.
          Ours is a God of Love, not fear. There is only ONE Truth – everything else is just another roadside attraction.
          Never forget Χριστος Ανεστη

  5. Brendan says

    “Bowling is the sport of the proletariat.”

    Did he take up Elephant Polo?

  6. Brendan says
  7. Joseph Lipper says

    Here it is:

    “The one person Francis will not meet is Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church, who the pope fears is becoming ‘Putin’s altar boy.’ Francis said he spoke with him on the phone for 40 minutes on March 15. ‘And I told him: I completely fail to understand this,’ he said. ‘Brother, we are not state clerics; we cannot use the language of politics, but that of Jesus. We are pastors of the same holy people of God.'”

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/pope-francis-says-nato-started-war-in-ukraine-by-barking-at-putins-door?ref=scroll

    • Gail Sheppard says

      This is not a reputable report. I gave you two links that roughly confer what was said. One was an exact quote.

    • Brendan says

      Is that the same Daily Beast that
      tried to get Gonzalo Lira killed?


      The Daily Beast Is Trying To Get Me Killed

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-GHmbAGh2E

      [Video – 16:35]

      • Joseph Lipper says

        Yep, that’s the one. It’s not just in the tabloids though, it’s all over the mainstream media now, and I doubt this sobriquet of “Putin’s Altar Boy” is going away anytime soon.

        So what’s next, are all the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate going to be called the same?

        • Gail Sheppard says

          Courtesy of Pope Francis. He’s frustrated that his opinions don’t matter.

          You know what, Joseph, sometimes it’s an honor to be called names. Kirill is a good bishop, as is Onufriy. They’re respected in the hierarchy.

          Putin runs the country. Kirill is responsible for the pastoral needs of the Church. These are very different roles.

          There is one way you know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. The good guys keep doing what they’ve always done and the bad guys run off their mouths.

          • Exactly. At no point in my life has it been so easy to figure who the good guys are just by observing who stands against whom. The entire globalist/ecumenist/LGBT/Zionist cabal is opposed to Russia and its Church. Do you really need any more indicators?

            • Gail Sheppard says

              Nope. I’m good.

            • George Michalopulos says

              Ordinarily, I’m more than willing to have a non-Manichean view of the world; you know, nuance and all that jazz.

              But this time, I’m absolutely flabbergasted how all of the malefactors have lined up so neatly behind Kiev. Usually, Soros is a good indicator but Good Lord in Heaven! the number of bad actors lining up on one side leaves no doubt in my mind.

              In this case, Soros is just the tip of the iceberg. I really feel sorry for the Ukrainians, they deserve better than this.

            • Exactly right Basil!

          • George Michalopulos says

            That’s putting it succinctly.

          • So the pedos want to engage in name calling, eh? Should we not look deeper into the sickness of mind that is Roman Catholicism and the papacy? When a pope attempts to paint someone as “Putin’s altar boy”, given the Roman proclivity to treat altar boys as homosexual sex toys, is that not similar to [gays] ascribing homosexuality to heteros? I mean, this is all of a sort with the tendency of [gays] to make scatological references and engage in all the most lurid sexual speculations. Into the mind of the devil . . .

            Reject and disregard these filthy vermin and anyone who pursues unity with the monsters.

            • Joseph Lipper says

              Misha, I’m not reading that Pope Francis is making a homosexual inference. You’re actually the only one I’ve heard suggest this. I think it’s probably safe to say that no one else is even imagining that.

              • Gail Sheppard says

                Well, I don’t know how “safe” it is but it’s not what came to my mind either.

                I think the Pope was insulted that he had to go through Kirill to get an audience with Putin after the start of the war. Putin would not make a direct appointment with him, clearly not what he was expecting.

                As I recall, he was one of many who asked to talk with Putin right after the war started. Putin had appointments back to back with other leaders and the pope was late for his. Instead of fitting him in, Putin said he’d have to go back to the end of the line and make the appointment through Kirill if he felt Putin needed to be involved.

                Francis set up a Zoom call to make the appointment through Kirill to get to Putin, but it didn’t work out that way. Kirill got on Zoom and listed all the reasons the war was necessary. Francis just wanted the appointment with Putin which he didn’t get.

                Later, in retelling the story to a reporter, Francis said: “With paper in hand, he [Kirill] read all of the justifications for the war,” . . . “I listened and told him: ‘I don’t understand any of this. Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use language of politics, but that of Jesus … For this we need to find the paths of peace, to stop the firing of arms.”

                Francis later said to a reporter, “He can’t turn into Putin’s altar boy.”

                He is clearly miffed, as is Bartholomew, that the world is revolving without them.

                https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/3/pope-francis-wants-to-travel-to-russia-to-meet-putin

              • “I think it’s probably safe to say that no one else is even imagining that.”

                Given the RCC’s experience with molesting altar boys and Francis’ experience with at least protecting such predators, if not being one himself, I’m sure I’m not the only one to see his statement re “Putin’s altar boy” as equivalent to “Putin’s little b*tch”. I mean, after all, Putin is not a bishop and has no altar. But why would you think of an altar boy as a plaything in the first place? I was addressing the psychology of the chief pederast, not the general public.

                As to the circumstances of the slight which Gail related, the pope does not realize that the relationship between the church and state in the Orthodox world is completely different than that between the church and state in the liberal west. O, for Catholics who recall that Liberalism was condemned as a heresy around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries!

                Our concept of church/state relations is symphonia. Essentially, the church and state walk hand in hand, each concentrating on a particular realm, but both supporting each other. The fact is that Kirill is not Putin’s altar boy (a pejorative term, especially coming from a Roman Catholic) but rather Putin’s and Russia’s High Priest and therefore he is responsible for the spiritual condition of his flock.

                This focus on Putin’s this and Putin’s that is not healthy. If Putin retired and were replaced by, for instance, Petrushev, Russia’s line against the West would be much harder. He would have already cut off all export to Europe and blasted everything standing in western Ukraine out of existence. Putin is a relative moderate and his policies should be viewed as the considered policies of the Russian ruling class, not Putin in particular. So ascribing sycophancy to Kirill is not only insulting but inaccurate. Kirill is following his conscience and has done nothing that most other Russian patriarchs and church leaders would have done throughout history. Indeed, he is behaving precisely as you would expect an Orthodox leader to behave. He has a duty to publicly pray for victory for the political leader of his flock.

                • Gail Sheppard says

                  Well, it’s certainly possible. Have you read Malachi Martin’s novel called Windswept House? It’s fiction, but I’ve been told it roughly resembles some events that really happened. I have a sinking feeling that we (the Orthodox Church) are somehow involved. The horrifying event takes place on the feast day of SS Peter and Paul in two places, simultaneously. One of the places was in the Chapel of St. Paul at the Vatican. – I’ve just started the book but I have a feeling it will explain a lot in terms of the ambitions of the world back in the 60s and now.

        • “It’s all over the mainstream media…”

          Small wonder, as it has the all the earmarks of a Leftist talking point.

        • “It’s not just in the tabloids though,
          it’s all over the mainstream media now…”

          Indeed it is – and thanks to the BBC’s Trusted News Initiative (TNI)
          all the reptiles (sorry: reporters) now sing from the same hymn sheet…

        • What insult could possibly be taken seriously from the mouths of pedophiles?

        • So we’re supposed to care what the MSM “reports”???
          The MSM…you mean the ones who lie all day every day, and get paid for it? The lapdogs for the global rulers? THAT’s who you want us to believe or even care what they have to say? LOL.

    • Brendan says

      “The one person Francis will not meet is
      Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church…”

      And who is Francis? Not every Catholic thinks he is the Pope…

      Anti-Pope: Catholic Writer Says Francis Has Assumed
      Invalid Authority Over Catholic Church

      https://rumble.com/v13ahnv-anti-pope-catholic-writer-says-francis-has-assumed-invalid-authority-over-c.html

      [Video – 08:57]

  8. Why is this crap being allowed at St. Nicholas Cathedral in D.C:

    https://washtheocon.org/wtc_events/ecumenism-as-a-peace-movement-the-case-of-ukraine/

    The speakers are all either schismatic OCU or schismatic Byzantine Catholic…why even allow it in an OCA cathedral?

    • Petros, my guess is that it will be held in the cathedral hall, as opposed to the actual interior of the cathedral itself. I’m not overly enamored with the whole thing myself, but at least its not as bad as the Pan-Orthodox Liturgy held at the Rainbow Flag Episcopal Cathedral in New York some months ago 🙁

    • Yeah, plus get your masks and vaxx too.

      All the agendas you can handle, in one convenient event.

  9. What pope said was horrible, and it was not only about altar boy but everything else is a low balling or humiliation of Patriarch Kiril. ROC reacted with astonishment, they are in a state of shock.
    What about stopping genocide of Christians together with Patriarch Kiril where the West impose democracy in Africa and Asia?
    But it is history now, it is the end of that game for him and new directions for path forward are set in front of him.

    Here is original interview.

    https://www.corriere.it/cronache/22_maggio_03/pope-francis-putin-e713a1de-cad0-11ec-84d1-341c28840c78.shtml