Pope Francis received in private audience seminarians and formators of the “Apostle James” Inter-Diocesan Seminary Photo: Vatican Media

The challenges of the Russian world according to Kirill

The patriarch has tried to distance himself recently from the country’s political leaders, stressing his superiority in the relationship between Russia’s political and clerical power. At least two issues underscore a gap between Church and State, namely the response to the demographic crisis with monks criticised for being celibate, and the ban on organised prayers in private homes.