Information for journalists from the Director of the Hoiy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni

This morning at 7.50 a.m., before the General Audience, Pope Francis met with the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, His Eminence Hilarion Alfeyev, in the study of the Paul VI Hall. During the conversation, which took place in a spirit of fraternity, a number of issues were discussed that are a cause of mutual concern and for which there is a joint commitment to seek concrete human and spiritual responses.

During the meeting, the Holy Father was able to express his gratitude for the best wishes for his 85th birthday, conveyed by Metropolitan Hilarion in his name and that of Patriarch Kirill. For his part, the Pope expressed feelings of affection and closeness to the Russian Church and its Patriarch Kirill, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, recalling with gratitude the journey of fraternity they have made together, and the conversation held in La Habana in 2016.

After the conversation, the Pope and the Metropolitan exchanged gifts: on the part of His Eminence Hilarion, an icon of Our Lady “of the Sign”, and on the part of the Holy Father, a mosaic depicting Our Lady “synkatabasis of God” as well as volumes of papal documents, the Message of Peace for 2022 and the Document on Human Brotherhood.

Shortly before 8:50 the Pope and the Metropolitan concluded their meeting.