Russian Orthodox Church scolds Pope Francis after ‘Putin’s altar boy’ remark
Agencies | London
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
The Russian Orthodox Church scolded Pope Francis yesterday for using the wrong tone after he urged Patriarch Kirill not to become the Kremlin’s “altar boy”, cautioning the Vatican that such remarks would hurt dialogue between the churches.
Francis told Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper that Kirill, who has given the Ukraine war his backing, “cannot become [President Vladimir] Putin’s altar boy”. The Russian Orthodox Church said it was regrettable that a month and a half after Francis and Kirill, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, had spoken directly, the pope had adopted such a tone.
“Pope Francis chose an incorrect tone to convey the content of this conversation,” the Moscow Patriarchy said, though it did not explicitly mention the “altar boy” comment. “Such statements are unlikely to contribute to the establishment of a constructive dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches, which is especially necessary at the present time.” Kirill, 75, a close ally of Putin, sees the war as a bulwark against a West he considers decadent, particularly over the acceptance of homosex uality.
But Kirill also expressed sorrow over the conflict. “Of course, this situation is associated with great pain for me. My flock is on both sides of the confrontation, they are mostly Orthodox people,” the Patriarchy quoted him as saying. “How can we foster the pacification of those fighting with the single goal of achieving the consolidation of peace and justice?”
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