(ZENIT News / Rome, 14.07.2024).- In the late afternoon of Thursday, July 11, Pope Francis received in private audience the President of the Department for Foreign Ecclesiastical Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, Metropolitan Antonij of Volokolamsk. The audience took place in Saint Martha’s Residence and, hence, was a more relaxed audience.
This is the fourth occasion in which the Second in the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox meets with the Holy Father. The first was on August 5, 2022, shortly after his appointment; the second on September 15, 2022, in the capital of Kazakhstan, and the third on May 3, 2023, at the end of the General Audience.
The Holy See Press Office only reported the audience. Instead, the Communication Service of the Department for Foreign Ecclesiastical Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow expanded the information through a publication, specifying the topics the Metropolitan discussed with the Pope and those addressed with the Roman Curia.
According to the note, Pope Francis discussed “questions of inter-ecclesial relations and joint efforts in the humanitarian ambit.” On July 12, after celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Great Martyr Saint Catherine in Rome, Metropolitan Antonij held several work meetings in the Roman Curia. In particular, he informed his interlocutors about the current persecution of the Canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine. In addition, Metropolitan Antonij explained in detail the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the “Fiducia Supplicans” document, and familiarized them with the response of the Biblical-Theological Synodal Commission.”
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