Ive read this sonewhere "Bishop Hilarion, the head of the Russian church’s department for external relations, said he would meet with Francis sometime between December 20 and the end of the year for the planned visit." I dont know if they were talking about planing the russia visit date or the actual russian visit.
Meanwhile bishop Hilarion, the head of the Russian church's department for external relations, said he would meet the pope sometime between December 20 and the end of the year. Hilarion and Francis would discuss "a possible future meeting" with Kirill among other issues, he said. "Neither a date nor a location for such a meeting has been set," he said in a statement issued in Moscow. https://www.barrons.com/news/pope-says-ready-to-go-to-moscow-to-meet-orthodox-leader-01638806408
The two characters, Francis and Kirill seem to be very different and this is not said to flatter the latter. There used to be several videos on YouTube which were very critical of the Patriarch but they mysteriously disappeared over time and now all that is to be seen is positive news about him. One of the disappeared videos showed the Patriarch wearing a $36,000 Breguet watch. The video was subsequently 'photoshopped', the watch disappeared and Kirill denied ever owning or wearing such a watch. Unfortunately for Kirill the reflection of the watch on the polished table at which he was sitting had not been 'photoshopped'. This caused a mixture of scandal and amusement in Russia. A spokesman for the church, subsequently admitted to the attempted deception. Kirill seems to have a 'thing' about watches and has been recorded many times wearing a variety of high value timepieces. Though he is now careful to wear cheap Russian watches in public. Three years after the watch event he admitted to owning such a watch which, he said, was a gift but denied ever wearing it in spite of the clear evidence that he had! The Orthodox Church was granted the right to the import of tobacco, alcohol and oil without paying the usual hefty duties after the dissolution of the USSR. This is interesting in that smoking is considered a sin in Orthodoxy (whilst merely a folly in Catholicism) and alcoholism is a widespread and is the admitted cause of most male premature deaths in the country. This arrangement has been extremely profitable but some fear that not all of it has gone for the benefit of the church. Kirill is known to own expensive property in his own, secular name of Vladimir Gundyaev, including an apartment in the most exclusive part of Moscow which is occupied by a 'long-term female friend', Lidia Leonova. . It was Kirill, of course who, following hundreds of years in which all Orthodox national churches recognised the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as 'First among equals' of Orthodox Patriarchs, withdrew that recognition and apparently seeks to have that title transferred to the Moscow patriarchate so that Kirill or his successor will be akin to an orthodox 'Pope'. While agreeing to aim for eventual unity when meeting Francis in Cuba, Kirill had previously assured his 'right wing' that he does not seek such unity. His detractors seem to regard this kind of duplicity as 'normal' for Kirill. Watch this man (pun intended).
