Pope Leon received at the Vatican on a high official of the Russian Orthodox Church

Pope Leon met with Metropolitan Antonie on Saturday, a high-ranking cleric within the Russian Orthodox Church, in a possible effort to relax the relations between the two churches, tense in the context of the Ukraine, reports Reuters.

The Sovereign Pontiff met with Antonie, the president of the Department for External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, and five other high-ranking clergy during a Saturday morning audience, the Vatican announced in a press release, without providing any details.

After the MIA, Pope Leon has repeatedly released peace for conflicts in the world, and this month he told Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenski, on a visit there, that the Vatican is willing to host peace between Ukraine and Russia.

Russian officials, however, said they did not see the Vatican as a suitable location for discussions, because it is surrounded by Italy, a NATO member country that supported Ukraine.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, was an enthusiastic supporter of invasion in Ukraine.

Discussion with Vladimir Putin in June

In his first conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, held in early June, Pope Leon urged Russia to take action to end the conflict.

“The Pope launched a call to Russia to make a gesture that favors peace and emphasized the importance of dialogue to establish positive contacts between the parties and find conflict solutions,” the Vatican said at that time, according to Reuters.

“The Pontiff's sovereign for his willingness to contribute to solving the crisis was expressed, especially for the Vatican's participation in solving difficult humanitarian problems, on a depoliticized basis,” wrote the Kremlin.

During the telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin accused the “Kiev regime” of “relying on the conflict escalation and carries out sabotage acts against civil infrastructure on the territory of Russia”.