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Last Updated: 24 February 2016

CWN - “We are not competitors but brothers,” Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill declared in a joint statement that punctuated their historic meeting on February 12.

After a lengthy private conversation—the first meeting ever between a Roman Pontiff and a Russian Patriarch—the two leading prelates of the Christian world issued a statement that stressed the suffering of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The Pope and the Patriarch also called for a strong defense of religious freedom in the Western world, as well as defense of human dignity, marriage, and the family.

“Finally!” Pope Francis said as he met Patriarch Kirill in the Havana airport. Their face-to-face meeting was the product of lengthy negotiations, breaking down barriers of hostility and distrust between Moscow and Rome. As the Pope remarked after his initial embrace with the Russian prelate, “Now things are easier.”

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Last Updated: 24 February 2016

CWN - A Syrian bishop has said that the suffering Christians of his country can take some comfort from the knowledge that their plight helped to bring together Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for their historic meeting.

Bishop Georges Abou Khazan, the Latin-rite apostolic vicar of Aleppo, told the Fides news service that his people are also excited about talk of a possible ceasefire. "For us it would be a dream," he said. But he added that it is uncertain how jihadist groups would respond to a ceasefire declaration by Syrian leaders and rebels.

The Syrian bishop observed that a spokesman for the Moscow patriarchate has cited the persecution of Christians as the main reason for advancing plans for the meeting between the Patriarch and the Pope. "This for us is a great consolation and helps us to move forward, even if we still have to suffer," he said.

References:

• The Bishop of Aleppo: the meeting between Francis and Kirill is also the fruit of our suffering. And this comforts us (Fides)

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Last Updated: 24 February 2016

CWN - Pope Francis "opened the door" for a meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in November 2014, when he said that he would meet with the Russian prelate any time, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity told Vatican Radio. 

Cardinal Kurt Koch said that the Pope's statement-- made to reporters on board a flight from Istanbul to Rome-- gave new impetus to negotiations to arrange for the unprecedented summit meeting between the two religious leaders. 

The cardinal also remarked that Patriarch Kirill was "very courageous" to arrange the meeting with Pope Francis in Cuba, since many powerful Russian prelates would oppose the meeting. 

References:

• Card.Koch: Pope's comments opened door for encounter with Russian Orthodox leader (Vatican Radio)

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Last Updated: 13 August 2017

CWN - A Turkish tribunal has confirmed a medical diagnosis that Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II of Constantinople is no longer capable of making his own decisions because of advancing dementia, and a guardian should be appointed to handle his duties.

Patriarch Mesrob has been suffering for years from Alzheimer's disease, and since 2008 a patriarchal vicar has been handling the daily affairs of the Armenian Church in Constantinople. But other Armenian prelates have been reluctant to elect a successor while the Patriarch is alive. 

In November 2014, during his trip to Turkey, Pope Francis made an unscheduled private visit to meet with Patriarch Mesrob. The Armenian prelate's physical health, as well as his mental condition, has reportedly been deteriorating since that time.

References:

• Medical report confirms: Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople needs a "guardian" (Fides)
• Surprise papal visit to ailing Armenian Patriarch (CWN, 12/1/14)

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Last Updated: 24 February 2016

CWN - Iraqi Christians boycotted a conference on "the protection of peaceful coexistence," sponsored by the country's parliament, to protest the lack of effective action to protect minorities, the Fides news service reports.

"What need is there in participating in meetings like this, and repeating the formulas that give the title to the conference, if then one does not see initiatives and changes in concrete terms?" asked Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis I Sako. 

The Chaldean prelate told Fides that he has met with govenrment officials and Islamic leaders, seeking assurances that the rights of minorities would be protected. "Unfortunately, none of their promises has become reality," he said.

Other minority groups, such as the Yazidis, also chose not to particupate in the parliament-sponsored conference.

References:

• Christians boycot the "conference on peaceful coexistence"; Chaldean Patriarch: we are tired of useless words (Fides)

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Last Updated: 20 February 2016

CWN- In a statement concluding a recent two-day meeting in Moscow, the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized the immutability of doctrine.

The bishops cited Archbishop Seraphim Sobolev (1881-1950), whom they canonized, stating that he emphasized the necessity to zealously preserve the Orthodox faith: “an important characteristic of the Church is immutability in her dogmatic and moral and canonical teaching which comes from God Himself, Our Lord Jesus Christ … It is this immutability of the teaching of the Orthodox Church which has preserved the apostolic faith in all its purity that distinguishes her from all other Christian confessions.”

“It is by this awareness that the Russian Orthodox Church has been and always will be guided,” the bishops added.

The bishops also

• approved the churchwide veneration of Eugene Botkin (1865-1918), the murdered physician of the Russian royal family
• prayed for peace in Ukraine
• rued the situation of Ukrainian Orthodox who are in communion with the Moscow patriarchate, and
• decried the persecution of the Middle East’s Christians

References:

• The Message of the Sacred Bishops’ Council to the Clergy, Monastics and All the Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)