Condolences from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' on the death of Pope Francis

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' expressed his condolences on the death of Pope Francis:

To His Eminence,
Most Reverend Kevin Cardinal Farrell,
Camerlengo of the Roman Catholic Church

Your Eminence!
Please accept my sincere condolences on the death of Pope Francis.
The late Pontiff led the Roman Catholic Church at a time of epochal change (Joint Statement by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, 7).
His name is associated with an important stage in relations between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. The first ever meeting of their Primates, which took place in 2016, marked the desire of our Churches to heal “the wounds inflicted in the conflicts of the distant and recent past” and “to unite efforts to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ and the common heritage of the Church of the first millennium” (Joint Statement 5, 7).
For Christians around the world, His Holiness’s desire to show solidarity with the suffering and disadvantaged was of particular importance. Constantly recalling the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the person of every poor person and person in need of help, the Pope drew attention to cases of injustice, violation of human dignity and various forms of persecution that were sometimes deliberately hushed up. We will remember with gratitude his statements in defense of religious freedom and, in particular, the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
May the All-Merciful Lord rest the soul of His servant, who passed away on the second day of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ by Christians around the world, in the abodes of the righteous. May He bring him “from death to life” (John 5:24), forgiving all sins, voluntary and involuntary, and may He create eternal memory for him!

With sincere condolences,
+KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL Rus'