Top Vatican ecumenist to hold talks with Russian Orthodox in Moscow

Published: 2004-01-22

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II's top ecumenical official will travel to Moscow in February for talks with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, in a visit the Vatican hopes will help thaw relations between the two churches. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, also will hold talks with Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chief ecumenical officer of the Russian Orthodox Church, during his Feb. 16-20 visit, the Vatican announced Jan. 22. The last time a high-profile Vatican delegation met with Orthodox leaders in Moscow was in 2000. In 2002, a planned visit to Moscow by Cardinal Kasper was canceled after the pope created four Catholic dioceses in Russia, provoking strong Orthodox criticism. Vatican officials called the February talks significant and said they hoped they would help get Catholic-Orthodox dialogue back on track.

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