Pope Says June Meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch is Off

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill meet in Havana February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Adalberto Roque/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill meet in Havana February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Adalberto Roque/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
TT
20

Pope Says June Meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch is Off

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill meet in Havana February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Adalberto Roque/Pool/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis (R) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill meet in Havana February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Adalberto Roque/Pool/File Photo/File Photo

Plans for Pope Francis to meet 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.

A Vatican source familiar with the planning for the Jerusalem stop said on Friday that it had been at an advanced stage, with even the location for the meeting chosen.

Francis told La Nacion in an interview that he regretted that the plan had to be "suspended" because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting "could lend itself to such confusion at this moment".

It would have been only their second meeting. Their first, in Cuba in 2016, was the first between a pope and a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since the Great Schism that split Christianity into Eastern and Western branches in 1054.

Kirill, 75, has given his full-throated blessing for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a position that has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an internal rebellion that theologians and academics say is unprecedented.

The 85-year-old Francis has several times implicitly criticized Russia and President Vladimir Putin over the war, using terms such as unjustified aggression and invasion and lamenting atrocities against civilians.

Asked in the interview why he has never named Russia or Putin specifically, Francis was quoted as saying: "A pope never names a head of state, much less a country, which is superior to its head of state".

Putin, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, has described Moscow's actions as a "special military operation" in Ukraine designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarize and "denazify" the country.

But Francis has specifically rejected that terminology, saying it was a war that has caused "rivers of blood".

Francis said earlier this month that he was considering a trip to Kyiv, telling reporters on the flight to Malta on April 2 that it was "on the table". He has been invited by Ukrainian political and religious leaders.

Asked in the Argentine interview why he has not gone so far, he said: "I cannot do anything that would jeopardize higher objectives, which are an end to the war, a truce or at least a humanitarian corridor. What good would it do for the pope to go to Kyiv if the war continues the next day?"



Millions of South Koreans Vote in Presidential Poll Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis 

 A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Millions of South Koreans Vote in Presidential Poll Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis 

 A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)

South Koreans turned out in force to vote in the presidential election on Tuesday, as millions of people sought to restore stability after six months of turmoil triggered by a shock martial law briefly imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

The new president will face the challenge of rallying a society deeply scarred by the attempt at military rule and an export-heavy economy reeling from unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally.

As of 3 p.m., 30.5 million people, or nearly 69% of the electorate, had voted at 14,295 locations, according to the National Election Commission, with car dealerships, gyms and fields for traditional Korean wrestling known as ssireum turned into polling stations.

"I hope the issues surrounding martial law are addressed more clearly and transparently," said 40-year-old Seoul resident Kim Yong-Hyun. "There are still many things that don't make sense, and I'd like to see them properly resolved."

Turnout in the snap election was running slightly ahead of the 2022 presidential vote at the same time, with polls set to remain open until 8 p.m. (1100 GMT) and following early voting when more than a third of the 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots.

"Only six golden hours are left to save South Korea which is in crisis due to the greed of the establishment," liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung said as he urged people to vote in a Facebook post.

Both Lee and his conservative rival Kim Moon-soo have pledged change for the country, saying a political system and economic model set up during its rise as a budding democracy and industrial power are no longer fit for purpose.

Their proposals for investment in innovation and technology often overlap, but Lee advocates more equity and help for mid-to low-income families while Kim has campaigned on giving businesses more freedom from regulations and labor strife.

Overshadowing any social policy initiatives, however, is Yoon's botched attempt to impose martial law that has loomed large over the poll.

Lee has called the election "judgment day" against Kim and his People Power Party accusing them of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon's presidency.

Kim was Yoon's labor minister when the former president declared martial law on December 3.

The conservative Kim, on the other hand, has branded Lee a "dictator" and his Democratic Party a "monster," warning if the former human rights lawyer becomes president, nothing will stop them from working together to amend laws simply because they do not like them.

"I and the People Power Party will do our best to save people's livelihoods and the economy," Kim said in a Facebook post.

'POLARIZED'

The frontrunner Lee and his rival Kim cast their ballots during early voting last week. Yoon and his wife voted at a school near their private residence on Tuesday, appearing relaxed but ignoring questions as they left the polling station.

Regular voters in Seoul urged the next leader to ease discord, restore stability and address urgent challenges from the fallout of the crisis that has touched their families.

"The economy has gotten so much worse since December 3, not just for me but I hear that from everybody," Kim Kwang-ma, 81, said. "And we as a people have become so polarized... and I wish we could come together so that Korea can develop again."

Lee is favored to win, according to polls released a week before the vote, leading Kim by 14 percentage points with 49% public support in a Gallup Korea survey, although Kim had narrowed an even wider gap at the start of the campaign on May 12.

Exit polls conducted by three television networks will be released at the close of the polls at 8 p.m. Ballots will be sorted and counted by machine first, then triple-checked by election officials by hand to verify accuracy.

It was not clear when the result would emerge. In 2022, Lee conceded to Yoon at around 3 a.m. the day after the vote in the closest presidential race in the country's history, which was decided by a margin of less than 1 percentage point.

The National Election Commission is scheduled to certify the result on Wednesday and the winner's inauguration is expected within hours. There will be no presidential transition as the office has remained vacant since Yoon was impeached by parliament and then removed by the Constitutional Court on April 4.