Pope will not meet Russian Orthodox patriarch during Kazakh visit -RIA

FILE PHOTO - Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience at the Vatican, August 24, 2022. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) -Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox church, who backs the war in Ukraine, will not meet when both men attend a gathering of religious leaders in Kazakhstan next month, RIA news agency cited a senior Orthodox official as saying on Wednesday.

Francis, due to be in the capital Nur-Sultan from Sept. 13-15 to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, has said in several recent interviews he hopes to meet with Patriarch Kirill when in Kazakhstan.