The Orthodox Church has put a dampener on hope
of a swift meeting of the Moscow Patriarch Alexi II with Pope Benedict XVI.
This is not a current question, Patriarchate stated, according to the Interfax agency on Monday. "If the Vatican maintains otherwise, this is a part of their relationship with the media but nothing to do with their relations with the Orthodox," said the cleric responsible for foreign relations of the Patriarchate, Igor Wyschanow. The Roman Catholic Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Unity, had said that such a "historic meeting" would improve relations between the churches.
There could be a meeting of the two church leaders only when a number of issues had been resolved, said Wyschanow. "In particular, issues of the work of the Catholic Church in Russia and the former Soviet republics have to be definitively clarified. The Catholic Church can preach only to their own believers, but not to Orthodox Christians " said Wyschanow. Even the relationship between the Greek Catholics and the Orthodox Church in the west of Ukraine was further unsettled.
Protests against the establishment of Catholic dioceses
Relations between Rome and Moscow have not been so excited/ tense for a long time. Repeatedly, Alexei II has underlined the equality of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Alexei II rejected a visit by the to Russia with the argument that the Catholic Church was proselytising in the country. In recent years, the Orthodox Church has protested primarily against the establishment of four Catholic dioceses in Russia.
Catholics and Orthodox have made initial progress this month in the thorny question of a "primacy of the Bishop of Rome-the Pope taking precedence among Christian patriarchs. They wish in the near future to talk specifically about what this primacy means in the Universal Church. The question of "hegemony" of the Bishop of Rome is regarded as a major obstacle on the way to a new unity of the Orthodox Christian Churches and the Roman Catholic Church.
This is not a current question, Patriarchate stated, according to the Interfax agency on Monday. "If the Vatican maintains otherwise, this is a part of their relationship with the media but nothing to do with their relations with the Orthodox," said the cleric responsible for foreign relations of the Patriarchate, Igor Wyschanow. The Roman Catholic Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Unity, had said that such a "historic meeting" would improve relations between the churches.
There could be a meeting of the two church leaders only when a number of issues had been resolved, said Wyschanow. "In particular, issues of the work of the Catholic Church in Russia and the former Soviet republics have to be definitively clarified. The Catholic Church can preach only to their own believers, but not to Orthodox Christians " said Wyschanow. Even the relationship between the Greek Catholics and the Orthodox Church in the west of Ukraine was further unsettled.
Protests against the establishment of Catholic dioceses
Relations between Rome and Moscow have not been so excited/ tense for a long time. Repeatedly, Alexei II has underlined the equality of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Alexei II rejected a visit by the to Russia with the argument that the Catholic Church was proselytising in the country. In recent years, the Orthodox Church has protested primarily against the establishment of four Catholic dioceses in Russia.
Catholics and Orthodox have made initial progress this month in the thorny question of a "primacy of the Bishop of Rome-the Pope taking precedence among Christian patriarchs. They wish in the near future to talk specifically about what this primacy means in the Universal Church. The question of "hegemony" of the Bishop of Rome is regarded as a major obstacle on the way to a new unity of the Orthodox Christian Churches and the Roman Catholic Church.
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