31 August 2018 in the Throne room of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Fanari Istanbul hosted the meeting of his Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and his Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill, reports patriarhiei.
The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Department for external Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Deputy Chairman of the DECR Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, as well as members of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Before departure to Moscow from the airport of Istanbul, Patriarch Kirill answered questions from journalists.
According to His Holiness, in the two years since the last meeting of the two primates, “a lot has happened in the lives of our Churches, and the whole situation in the world really has changed.”
Describing dialogue as “conversation between two brothers,” Patriarch Kirill stated that he had discussed “all issues that are on the agenda.”
“I hope we will continue to work together to make the world a better place,” — said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Without the consent of His Holiness would not want to tell you, although nothing secret was not anything that would produce an explosion in the mind, — said the Patriarch. — The conversation was very correct — the conversation of the heads of the two Churches, conscious of the responsibility for the condition of the Ecumenical Orthodoxy and for the state of souls in those places and in those countries which are our responsibility.”
As to continue the pan-Orthodox dialogue, his Holiness said: “Constantly having problems, which are challenges to the Churches with a pastoral point of view. The world is changing very fast, and no one Church can make decisions that contradict the position of the other Orthodox Church.”
“So we just programmed for interaction, cooperation, and because the world is changing fast, and this cooperation must be dynamic enough”, — concluded his Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill.