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Church in the WorldCatholics praise ?new respect? from Orthodox Church leadersRussia Jonathan Luxmoore - 2 December 2006Russia's Catholic archbishop has welcomed the "new respect" being shown to his Church's members by Orthodox leaders, and predicted that long-running disputes could be settled. "Relations between brothers in Christ, who are as close as possible in faith, sacraments, liturgy and apostolic continuity, are meant to be a true sign for the world," said Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. "Our communication over the span of these 15 years, despite its difficult context, has always convinced me of the need to go on developing and strengthening Catholic-Orthodox ties." The Moscow-based archbishop made his remarks in a letter marking the sixtieth birthday of Metropolitan Kirill, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external church relations. He said he "highly valued" Kirill's own contribution to interreligious dialogue, as well as to reinforcing the Russian Orthodox Church's authority. "The respect you displayed for the minor flock of Russian Catholics during our recent conversations strengthens my confidence that problems and misunderstandings will be resolved and left behind, and that we are looking forward to fruitful collaboration for our common well-being," added the Archbishop. Similar optimism was expressed by the Papal Nuncio, who told the Interfax news agency he was hopeful about a long-awaited meeting between the Pope and Patriarch Alexei II. Catholic-Orthodox ties became tense in Russia after the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule as a result of Orthodox complaints of Catholic "proselytism" and the revival of Greek or Eastern Catholic Churches, which combine the Eastern liturgy with loyalty to Rome. Relations deteriorated after the 2002 creation of four Catholic dioceses in the country, and are currently being discussed by a joint working group inaugurated in May 2004. Speaking last week at an Orthodox film festival in Moscow, Metropolitan Kirill said he felt there was "no room for confrontation" in Catholic-Orthodox ties, and he favoured a meeting between Pope and Patriarch "at the opportune time and in the right place". |
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