During his June 1-3 visit to Hungary, Metropolitan Hilarion, the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, met with Cardinal Péter Erdő of Esztergom-Budapest.

The prelates discussed “a wide range of issues concerning the cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church at the present stage,” according to the Moscow Patriarchate. The meeting comes six weeks after Pope Francis shelved plans for a June meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.