Pope Francis receives Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Antonij

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Amid the Pope's countless appeals for peace in the ongoing war in Ukraine, Pope Francis received Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Antonij of Volokolamsk in the Vatican on Thursday afternoon, according to the Holy See Press Office.

This marks the second visit of Metropolitan Antonij, the head of the Department for External Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, in the Vatican, after his 5 August 2022 visit, which was part of the ecumenical contacts between the Pope and the Patriarchate of Moscow.

That encounter had followed a 16 March video conference between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, in which the Pope invited all Christians and Christian pastors to work toward peace.

Pope Francis and Metropolitan Antonij also participated in the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan in September 2022.