Pope Francis and Russian Patriarch Kirill are to meet each other

The two clergymen are supposed to meet each other later this year, Hilarion Alfeev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and president of the Department of External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, says. According to Avvenire, preparations for this meeting are made at the moment.

Alfeev stresses the importance of communication between the two heads of the church denominations. He referred to earlier calls between the Pope and the Patriarch. According to Alfeev, it is good that they use video calling "without waiting to see each other personally since events are developing very quickly."

Opposing views of the Ukrainian War

Meanwhile, the views of Pope Francis and his Orthodox counterpart Patriarch Kirill are quite the opposite of each other. Whereas Pope Francis calls the war "cruel and senseless", Patriarch Kirill sees the Russian intervention as crucial to protecting the Christian values of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In Kirill's opinion, Ukraine, its government and the western world form a threat to fundamental norms and values. He claims that the War in Ukraine is about the salvation of mankind. For example, the Patriarch argues in a sermon published on Patriarcha.ru that the real War is between the Orthodox Church and the liberal values of the Western world. For example, he strongly condemns Pride Parades, which he sees as a danger to the Church. "We know that our brothers and sisters (in Donbas, ed.) are suffering. Moreover, they may suffer for their loyalty to the Church." For this reason, he feels compelled to call the Russian Orthodox believers to "preserve the right to stand on the side of the world, on the side of God's truth, on the side of the Divine commandments."

Traditionally, the Eastern Orthodox Church does not believe in the concept of just War. It teaches that peace is a "divinely ordained condition for human existence and that every form of conflict and strife is a manifestation of sin", the website St. George Cathedral writes. Therefore, the Church sees warfare "as an activity that belongs to the realm of fallen human existence." Consequently, it "can in no way embody justice, righteousness and peace, that are the essence of the reconciliation of God and humanity."

Yet, there are some conditions under which the Eastern Orthodox Church does support War: National self-defence, defence of neighbours and restoration of trampled justice, as Yuri Stoyanov argues in a book chapter called "Norms of War in Eastern Orthodox Christianity". These elements can be seen in the justification that Kirill gives for the War in Ukraine, as he, for example, says that the brothers and sisters in the region of Donbas are suffering.

Pope prays for peace

On the other hand, Pope Francis condemns the War and points out that it brings senseless suffering to countless people. He warned that "war does not only devastate the present, but the future of a society as well", Vatican News reported. He strongly appeals to political leaders to end the War. "Before the danger of self-destruction, may humanity understand that the moment has come to abolish war, erase it from human history before it erases human history", he once said.

Contrary to the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Western Church used to believe in the concept of just War. According to the Roman Catholic church, wars were allowed as long as they met certain conditions, BBC reported earlier. Among these conditions were ensuring that all peaceful means have been exhausted and that force is appropriate and will not lead to worse violence.

However, during an earlier phone call with Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis concluded that all wars are unjust since "the people of God pay. War is never the way. The Spirit that unites us asks us as shepherds to help the peoples who suffer from War." That was reported earlier by Vatican News.