With 48 hours behind us since the historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, a large number of (mostly Catholic) voices are sounding off on both the encounter itself and the Joint Declaration which came out of it. I have already posted the reactions of Patriarch Sviatoslav and Fr. Peter Galadza of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), along with a brief collection of pre-meeting commentaries here.
- Paul L. Gavrilyuk, “When Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The Meeting Between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill and the Security Summit in Munich,” Academia – This brief working paper — penned by an Orthodox Christian scholar — discusses the geopolitical significance of the Pope/Patriarch meeting and how the Joint Declaration could be used by the Kremlin to justify its (arguably illegal) intervention in Ukraine.
- Fr. John Hunwicke, “Roman Primacy and Cuba,” Mutual Enrichment – Some pithy thoughts on the Joint Declaration from one of the best Catholic bloggers in the business.
- Sandro Magister, “Over the Embrace Between Francis and Kirill Falls the Shadow of Putin,” Chiesa – Some further thoughts on the geopolitics surrounding Francis and Kirill’s face-to-face with some critical words for the Pope.
- Adam DeVille, “Francis and Kirill: Who Played Whom?,” Catholic World Report – The article wherein Adam DeVille reveals himself to be a Straussian (I jest). DeVille offers a compelling account of how Francis may have gotten more out of the Joint Declaration than many observers assume.
- John Allen, “A Case for Caution over the Pope/Patriarch Meeting,” Crux – Cutting in the opposite direction from DeVille, Allen lays out in detail why Catholics should not be terribly optimistic over the Pope/Patriarch get-together and the Joint Declaration which emerged from it.
