Putin Supports Vatican-Russian Orthodox meeting

Putin Supports Recent Dialogue Between Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church

With Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin President of Russia is licensed under CC BY 4.0
With Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin
President of Russia is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Both churches agreed on playing humanitarian roles

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the meeting between Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican[/tweetit]. The Russian President met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican. Putin said Russian-Vatican ties rest on "universal humanitarian values.” The same is applicable for relations between these two churches.

Putin Supports Recent Dialogue Between Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church[/tweetthis]

President Putin thanked Holy See for its sending the relics of St. Nicholas on loan to the Russian Federation in the summer of 2017. He also expressed appreciation towards a painting exhibition from Vatican Museums currently being shown in Moscow and will reciprocate with Russian art for the Vatican exhibition in 2018.

Putin's meeting with Parolin in Sochi comes after the latter had talks with Kirill, the Patriarch of Russian Orthodox Church. The head of the Russian church met Pope Francis in February 2016. This meeting in Cuba was the maiden encounter between the two churches' leaders. The Russian religious leader said that the relations between Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches are moving into a new stage after the meeting in 2016. The same has been communicated to Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Patriarch Kirill said that Russian-Vatican “relations entered a new stage of development, filled with important events.” He continued to say, “In Havana we agreed positions on very important contemporary problems and the common vision lets us design the respective plans and fill them with real content." The Russian church has consented to partner with Catholic church when it comes to cooperation on the issue of humanitarian aid to all the civilians suffering from military conflicts in the Middle East.

According to Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church actively offers humanitarian aid to all people suffering due to the conflict in Syria and in other Middle Eastern nations. It is extremely important to be reliant on the support of the full Christian community while doing these activities. He said that he believed that the relations between the two churches comes to the fore when it comes to assisting an afflicted population in the area.

Cardinal Parolin also discussed with Patriarch Kirill the difficult Ukraine situation. This struggle exists between Russia backed separatists and the Ukrainian military. The Patriarch said, the “Church cannot play any other role if not one of peacemaking when people are in conflict among each other. Conflicts do not last forever, and sooner or later they end.”

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