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VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican mentioned Tuesday that Pope Francis will journey to Kazakhstan in September for an interfaith convention, a gathering that will give him an opportunity to fulfill with the top of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The assembly with Patriarch Kirill can be vital given Kirill’s justification for Russia’s struggle in Ukraine. Francis known as off a deliberate encounter with Kirill in June in Jerusalem due to the diplomatic fallout it will have created.
The Kazakh authorities is internet hosting a “Congress of Leaders of World and Conventional Religions” on Sept. 14-15 within the capital, Nur-Sultan. Kirill has been invited and the Moscow Patriarchate has mentioned he would attend.
The Vatican confirmed that Francis had additionally determined to attend in a joint assertion issued Tuesday marking the thirtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Kazakhstan.
“The continuation of peaceable coexistence within the face of latest challenges is achievable solely by way of an inclusive and complete dialogue,” the assertion mentioned. “Due to this fact, Kazakhstan welcomes the choice of Pope Francis to attend” the September congress.
Francis has criticized the devastation of the struggle however has been eager to keep away from antagonizing Kirill and derailing many years of ecumenical outreach to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Francis and Kirill met in Havana in 2016 within the first such encounter between a pope and Russian patriarch in a millennium.
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