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Papal peace envoy to visit Russia on June 28-29 — Vatican

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi visited Kiev in early June to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and religious figures

VATICAN CITY, June 27./TASS/. Papal peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will visit Moscow on June 28-29, the press service of the Holy See reported on Tuesday.

"Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Italian Bishops' Conference and Archbishop of Bologna, will travel to Moscow on June 28-29 as an envoy of Pope Francis," the report said. It stated that the main goal of the visit is to make a humanitarian contribution to the search for "a way out of the current tragic situation in order to achieve a just peace."

The cardinal visited Kiev in early June to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and religious figures. On June 15-18, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, held a series of meetings at the Vatican, including with Pope Francis. Sources in the Russian Orthodox Church say that a meeting between Zuppi and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is possible "if such a desire is expressed and the schedule of the Russian Orthodox Church head allows it." Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin also previously did not rule out that such a meeting might take place.

As Zuppi and high-ranking representatives of the Holy See said earlier, the envoy’s task "is to facilitate a more favorable atmosphere," while the Vatican has no peace plan of its own. Pope Francis first mentioned a mission, then still "not public," at the end of April when he was returning from Budapest.

Meanwhile, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski is expected in Ukraine on Tuesday, when he will deliver humanitarian aid to the local population, RAI-news-24 reports.

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