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Experts skeptical about outlook for Patriarch-Pope meeting in near future

ALEXANDROVA Lyudmila

A meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and all Russia, is unlikely to take place in the near future, contrary to repeated declarations of intent on both sides, Russian experts believe

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. A meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and all Russia, is unlikely to take place in the near future, contrary to repeated declarations of intent on both sides, Russian experts believe. They see the main reason in the anti-ecumenical sentiment of most Orthodox Christians in Russia.

Pope Francis says he holds the Russian Orthodox Church and its spiritual traditions in high esteem.

“The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and myself would like to hold a meeting and both of us are making preparations for it. We are moving in this direction with a sense of responsibility and good will and the determination to eliminate all obstructions,” Pope Francis told a TASS correspondent on board a papal plane on the way from Istanbul to Rome.

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