Thursday, June 09, 2005

Meetings in Moscow

More news out of Moscow as relations between the Vatican and perhaps the most hostile Orthodox patriarchs continue to thaw.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – There are “encouraging” signs of possible progress in dialogue between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate “on both inter-religious and political levels”. This is what Moscow Metropolitan, Mgr Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, has to say about latest statements by Russia and the Vatican, which suggest a shift in chronically strained relations between the two Christian churches. He also invites followers of both confessions to “common Christian witness”.
[...]
“Increasingly frequent bilateral contacts help to break the ice between Catholics and Orthodox and strengthen reciprocal faith,” the Metropolitan told AsiaNews. “There is a need to at least meet and dialogue to eliminate accumulated problems, and lately, this need seems to have become more visible.”
[...]
Commenting on the meeting of Lavrov with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Metropolitan emphasised the importance of collaboration to counter religious extremism: “We can do much working together, not only at a level of states, but also at an inter-confessional level”. (MA-VK)

Read the complete article Moscow Metropolitan: “Encouraging” signs of dialogue with the Orthodox from AsiaNews.it.

A coming together in terms of reuniting the West and the East may still be far off. However, with examples of continuing dialogue like this latest news becoming more frequent, it's clear that the Latin West and Greek East allying against the common foe of secularism. Hopefully issues such as Catholic missionary work in Russia and the Ukrainian pseudo-patriarchate won't cause too much tension as both sides go forward.

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