The acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches met this week with Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church head who has drawn global criticism for lending spiritual support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a WCC readout of the meeting, acting General Secretary Fr. Ioan Sauca, a Romanian Orthodox priest, met with Kirill at the Patriarchal Residence in Moscow on Oct. 17 to discuss “how churches are called to be peacemakers.” The two reportedly engaged in a public discussion as well as a separate, private conversation.
The meeting followed months of controversy surrounding the Russian Orthodox Church’s membership in the WCC. After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Sauca sent a letter to the Orthodox leader urging him to help facilitate a cease-fire. But Kirill instead repeatedly voiced support for the invasion, sparking calls to expel the Russian Orthodox Church from WCC membership.
Sauca and other WCC leaders eventually rejected the idea, keeping the ROC in its fold. WCC members published a statement at its assembly in September denouncing the war, but Ukrainian observers at the gathering criticized it as weak.
Sauca reportedly referenced such concerns during his meeting with Kirill, making mention of “statements that condemn the war and violence which we made in our governing bodies — the statements which were elaborated with the participation of delegates from the Russian Orthodox Church.”