21 Jun 2018, 13:32

Pope Francis I believes movement towards unity impossible without Russia

The Pope is making a pilgrimage timed for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches

GENEVA, June 21. /TASS/. Pope Francis I believes that movement towards unity is impossible without Russia. He said it on Sunday in a brief conversation with TASS on the way to Geneva.

The Pope is making one-day ecumenical pilgrimage timed for the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches [WCC].

As Francis I welcomed the reporters on his media pool, he described the trip to Geneva as "a journey marked by aspirations for unity":

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"But the advance towards it is impossible without Russia," the Pope said answering a question from TASS.

He said in his address at the Ecumenical Center at the WCC that Christians should keep up unity and avert wars.

The WCC is a large international Christian organization uniting 348 various Christian Churches in more than a hundred countries, with the overall congregation exceeding 400 million believers.

Unlike Moscow Patriarchate that has a permanent representative at the WCC, the Holly See does not have membership of the organization. However, it cooperates with the WCC on humanitarian issues since 1965.

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