VATICAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2023) There is strong hope, almost certainty, that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Pope's peace envoy to Ukraine, will meet with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during his upcoming visit in Moscow, an informed source at the Holy See told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
"There is strong hope, almost certainty, that Cardinal Zuppi will meet with Patriarch Kirill in Moscow and give him greetings from Pope Francis," the source said.
The source added that, before visiting Russia, Zuppi was received by Pope Francis and informed him of his visit to Kiev on June 5-6. Upon his return to Rome, the cardinal was not immediately able to meet with the Pope, who was hospitalized on June 7 for intestinal surgery.
The source also expressed hope that Zuppi would be received in Moscow at a "high level," which he said would be a display of "great courtesy to Cardinal Zuppi."
The Holy See said earlier on Tuesday that Zuppi will visit Moscow "to encourage gestures of humanity that can help resolve the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace" in Ukraine.
On May 20, Holy See spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that Pope Francis had instructed Zuppi to carry out "a mission that will contribute to easing tensions in the conflict in Ukraine" to pave the way for peace.
Zuppi paid a visit to Kiev from June 5-6. The Vatican described the trip as "short but eventful." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the papal envoy that Ukraine would not consider peace plans other than the one he outlined in November.
