Pope Says Meeting With Russian Orthodox Patriarch Scrapped Because Of The Russia - Ukraine War

Photos show Pope Francis (right) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (left) meeting in Havana 2016. The Pope was scheduled to meet the Russian Patriarch again in June, but he cancelled the meeting in an announcement on Friday 

Daily Mail: Pope Francis scraps his planned meeting with Russia's Putin-backing Patriarch Kirill over fears it could 'lend itself to much confusion' 

* Pope Francis, 85, has cancelled his plans to meet the Russian Orthodox leader 

* Patriarch Kirill, an ally of Putin's, was scheduled to meet the Pope in Lebanon 

* Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting could lead to 'much confusion' 

* Francis said earlier this month that he was considering travelling to Kyiv 

* Their initial meeting in 2016 was the first between a pope and a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since the Great Schism that split Christianity in 1054 

Pope Francis has said he has dropped plans to meet in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has backed Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

Francis, who has several times implicitly criticised Russia and Putin over the war, told Argentine newspaper La Nacion in an interview that he regretted that the plan had to be 'suspended' because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting 'could lend itself to much confusion at this moment'.  

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Update #1: Pope Says Meeting With Russian Orthodox Patriarch Scrapped (Moscow Times)  

Update #2: Pope says he's willing to do 'everything' to help end war; postpones 2nd meeting with Russian Orthodox leader (FOX News)  

WNU Editor: I do not expect another meeting between these two religious leaders for a very long time.