Amid tensions in the Russia Ukraine conflict, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, a senior Russian Orthodox cleric, to the Vatican.
Newsroom (29/07/2025, Gaudium Press )In a significant diplomatic encounter, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, a senior Russian Orthodox cleric, to the Vatican on July 26, marking the first such visit from Moscow since the pontiff’s election. The meeting unfolds against the backdrop of strained relations between Rome and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), exacerbated by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The Vatican confirmed the morning audience but offered no further comment. According to an ROC statement, Metropolitan Anthony, chair of the Moscow Patriarchate’s external relations department, conveyed greetings from Patriarch Kirill, head of the ROC, and congratulated Pope Leo on his election as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. In response, the pope expressed gratitude to Kirill and emphasized the importance of fostering ties with the ROC, despite centuries of fraught relations further complicated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s aggression, which escalated in 2022 following attacks launched in 2014, has been labeled a genocide in reports by the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights. Patriarch Kirill has openly supported the war, declaring it a “holy war” in a March 2024 decree by the World Russian People’s Council. The decree called for the elimination of Ukrainian statehood and the absorption of Ukraine into Russia’s “exclusive zone of influence.” Kirill has also framed Russian soldiers’ deaths in Ukraine as a redemptive act, claiming in a 2022 sermon that such sacrifices “wash away all sins” and describing the killing of Ukrainians as a “heroic deed.”
These statements prompted a sharp rebuke from Pope Francis, who, during a March 16, 2022, Zoom call with Kirill, warned that the patriarch must not become “Putin’s altar boy.” The ROC’s recent statement noted that Metropolitan Anthony and Pope Leo discussed “numerous issues,” including Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and global conflicts, notably in Ukraine and the Middle East. The ROC highlighted claims of “persecution” against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), referencing a Ukrainian law—widely supported by religious leaders, legislators, and citizens—to ban the UOC-MP due to its ties to Moscow and national security concerns.
Ukraine’s Orthodox community is diverse, encompassing the UOC-MP, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (recognized as independent in 2019 by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I), and others, according to Lilia Kovalyk-Vasyuta, chief editor of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Catherine Wanner, a professor at Pennsylvania State University specializing in Ukrainian religion, testified before the U.S. Helsinki Commission in July 2024 that Russia’s “Russian world” ideology—promoting Russian Orthodoxy as a state-protected guardian of conservative values—justifies repressing religious minorities and privileges Russian Orthodoxy. This ideology has fueled severe persecution of Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Muslim communities in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Pope Leo reiterated his offer to host peace talks at the Vatican during a June 4 phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an offer previously dismissed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as “a bit vulgar.” Meanwhile, religious freedom in Russia continues to decline, with the U.S. International Religious Freedom Commission noting intensified use of blasphemy laws to suppress free expression. In a December 2024 press conference, Putin claimed that “godless … ethnic Jews” are undermining the ROC, further highlighting the Kremlin’s instrumentalization of religious narratives.
The Vatican meeting underscores Pope Leo’s efforts to maintain dialogue with the ROC amid geopolitical tensions, though the path to reconciliation remains fraught with challenges rooted in Russia’s actions in Ukraine and its broader suppression of religious diversity.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCAN News
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