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Catholics, Orthodox discuss “summit” meeting
Work to be done before Pope, Patriarch meet
In a joint appearance in March on Russian radio, Moscow’s Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz and Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Kirill have agreed that a “summit” meeting between Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow “should be truly historic, and not merely a protocol meeting.”
Metropolitan Kirill said that such a meeting would require “a great deal of care in preparations”—thereby signaling that the encounter would probably not take place in the immediate future. However, the Italian daily Avvenire perceived the Russian prelate’s public statement as a sign of “détente” in the attitude of the Moscow Patriarchate toward the Vatican. In recent weeks, as Pope John Paul II prepares for his visit to Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox leadership has issued a series of often contradictory statements, including some signs of openness to Rome and other signs of intransigent hostility to Catholic influence in Eastern Europe.
Metropolitan Kirill told his Russian radio audience that direct talks between the Pope and the Russian Patriarch could “permit the resolution of many unfortunate questions.” He said that a rapprochement between the Catholic and Orthodox churches would require “flipping over the pages of a thousand years of the history of our division, and trying to write a new page.”
Pope John Paul II has made no secret of his desire to meet with Patriarch Aleksei. However, past efforts to arrange such a meeting have failed; on each occasion the Patriarch has pulled out of the proposed plans, citing his familiar complaints that the Catholic Church is engaged in unacceptable “proselytism” in traditionally Orthodox lands.
Vatican officials, speaking off the record, now suggest that the most likely occasion for a meeting between Pope John Paul and Patriarch Aleksei could be in Armenia. That country is regarded as “neutral territory,” since it is not within the ecclesiastical orbit of either Rome or Moscow. And the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, enjoys good relations with both the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate, so that he might serve as an ideal intermediary in setting up the meeting.
Unsettled by charges
Archbishop reacts to lawmaker’s remarks
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow said that he was “indignant,” and the Catholic faithful remain “seriously concerned,” in reaction to accusations by nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky that the Catholic Church is acting as an expansionist power in Russia.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, the apostolic administrator for European Russia, made his remarks in a March 13 interview with the Italian daily Avvenire. He was responding to a statement in which Zhirinovsky, a representative in the Russian Duma (parliament), had urged the government to “curb Catholic expansionism.” He had also led Duma members in asking for an investigation of Catholic activities.
Catholics in Russia are doing their best to promote “constructive dialogue with civil society,” the archbishop said. The Church maintains an attitude of “mutual respect” with other faiths, and the Duma’s call for an investigation of the Catholic Church contradicts the parliament’s obligation to protect the rights of religious minorities, he charged. Archbishop Kondrusiewicz said that he hoped the calls for such an investigation would prove to be based on “misunderstandings, caused by insufficient information,” and not “the signal for the start of a political campaign” against the Catholic Church.
Ten years of freedom
Catholics celebrate restoration
Russian Catholics celebrated the 10th anniversary of the re-establishment of official Catholic institutions in the former Soviet Union on April 13.
“God, almighty and everlasting, ten years ago you restored our freedom and happiness,” said Bishop Joseph Werth, SJ, apostolic administrator of Western Siberia, in a prayer that will be recited in many local parishes. In his prayer the bishop—who was born in Kazakstan—thanked God for the martyrs of the 20th century and their sacrifice, “on which you have re-built your Church in these last ten years.” He also expressed gratitude for missionaries, “the priests, religious, and laity who left their own countries and came to Russia to help our spiritual rebirth.”
Looking to the future, the bishop encouraged his people to praise God “for the young generations who are rediscovering the world of the spirit: they are the future of our Church and our country.” Finally, looking back at the decade of restored freedom, Bishop Werth asked God to forgive “our faults and sins, and for every day, every hour, that we failed to make good use of this time of grace.”
On April 13, 1991, the Catholic Church was able to re-establish ecclesiastical structures after more than 70 years of state-imposed atheism. After the October Revolution in 1917, the Soviet government confiscated all Catholic Church property. This was followed in 1923, under Stalin, by the systematic and total elimination of the presence of the Church and church life. Then, in 1990-1991, the ban was lifted.