Pope says June meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch is off

Plans for Pope Francis to meet in Jerusalem in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia's war in Ukraine, have been suspended, the pope has told an Argentine newspaper. Reuters reported on April 11 that the Vatican was considering extending the pope's trip to Lebanon on June 12-13 by a day so that he could meet with Kirill on June 14 in Jerusalem.

Francis told La Nacion in an interview that the plan was "suspended" because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting "could lend itself to much confusion at this moment"