November 12, 2013. (Romereports.com) Pope Francis met with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church. It’s their second meeting. The first one took place after Pope Francis’ first Mass as Pontiff.
The meeting is not only inter-church, marked by a concert of sacred music composed by the Metropolitan: it is also designed to prepare the way for a politically and diplomatically strategic visit to the Pope by the Russian President Putin.
Pope meets with representative of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch