His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed his condolences over the death of Pope Francis.
To His Eminence, the Most Reverend Kevin Cardinal Farrell, Camerlengo of the Roman Catholic Church
Your Eminence,
Please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of Pope Francis.
The late Pontiff led the Roman Catholic Church during epochal changes.
His name is associated with an important stage in the relations between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. The first-ever meeting of their Primates in 2016 marked the desire of our Churches to heal "wounds inflicted in conflicts of the distant and recent past" and "join forces 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 all over the world, His Holiness's desire to show solidarity with the suffering and disadvantaged was of particular importance. Constantly reminding of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the person of every poor and needy person, the Pope drew attention to the sometimes deliberately suppressed cases of injustice, violation of human dignity and various forms of persecution. We will gratefully remember 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 all over the world, in the villages of the righteous. May He lead him "from death to life" (John 5:24), forgiving all his sins, both voluntary and involuntary, and may He be remembered forever!
With sincere condolences,
+KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA