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Pope Francis to meet Russian Orthodox patriarch in Kazakhstan
The Vatican said on Monday (August 1) that Pope Francis will travel to Kazakhstan in September for a meeting of religious leaders, the Anews reported, citing Reuters.
The pope has said previously that he hoped to meet with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church at the gathering.
In a statement, the Vatican said Francis would be in the capital Nur-Sultan Sept. 13-15 to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
Francis has said in several recent interviews that he hopes to meet there with Kirill, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Vatican statement announcing the trip did not mention Kirill. The statement was released in Russian as well as Italian and English. Kazakh and Russian are the country's two official languages.
Kirill has given his full-throated backing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Francis had planned to meet Kirill last month in Jerusalem after a trip to Lebanon but both were called off.
A close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Kirill has described Putin’s rule as "a miracle of God.
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According to Putin, Kirill's father baptized him. During his tenure as Patriarch of Moscow all Rus', Kirill has brought the Russian Orthodox Church closer to the Russian state.
After Kirill lauded Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, clergy in other Orthodox dioceses condemned Kirill's remarks, with Bartholomew I saying that Kirill's support for Putin and the war were "damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy.
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