CARDINAL WALTER KASPER, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has begun his third visit to Russia in four years, in a renewed attempt to improve dialogue between Moscow and the Vatican. Before leaving for Moscow on Wednesday last week, Cardinal Kasper spoke of "an atmosphere of renewed fraternity" between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches and said he went with the desire for a "deeper understanding of Orthodoxy".

Cardinal Kasper came to Russia at the invitation of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk, the head of the Moscow Patriachate's Department for External Relations. A meeting with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Alexei II, was due to take place yesterday. The cardinal was due to meet other senior Russian Orthodox officials, and Catholic communities in Moscow, Smolensk and Kazan.

The new head of Russia's Catholics, Moscow Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, called Cardinal Kasper's visit "consistent with an effort to increase dialogue and relations between the two Churches, with no specific expectations."