Looking for a Ship

The Russian news service is reporting that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia hopes to take further joint steps with the Catholic Church to restore peace in Syria.Since the February 2016 meeting between the Patriarch and Pope Francis in Havana, “there has been high-level talk in various countries about genocide of Christians in the Middle East, and this topic has now moved to the very core of the political agenda,” according to the Russian patriarch

Patriarch Kirill met today in Moscow with the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch.  During the discussion, Patriarch Kirill stated that, “We are ready to further work with the Roman Catholic Church, with its representatives, in order to jointly do everything to end the suffering and for people to return to peaceful life.”

Expressing his hope for an end to the ongoing war, His Holiness added, . “For Christians it will also be important that churches are rebuilt and people can return to their normal religious life.”  Central to this effort, the Russian and the Catholic Churches have started compiling a list of churches and religious sites destroyed as a result of hostilities in Syria.