Vatican delegation returns Kazan icon to Russia as goodwill gesture

Published: 2004-08-30

MOSCOW (CNS) -- An icon held sacred by Pope John Paul II has been returned to Russia, the country of its origin, as a gesture of good will intended to help bridge the long-standing divide between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches. The ornate relic, an 18th-century copy of the Mother of God of Kazan, was delivered to Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, following a liturgy Aug. 28 in Assumption Cathedral on the grounds of the Kremlin. The icon was placed on a pedestal to the right of the altar in the legendary gray limestone church, where Patriarch Alexy marked the feast of the Dormition of Mary, the Byzantine equivalent of Mary's assumption into heaven. "This sacred image traveled a long and difficult path across many countries and cities of the world. Catholics and Christians of other confessions prayed before it," the patriarch, wearing a vibrant blue robe embroidered with gold, told several hundred Orthodox faithful. For more than a decade the icon -- which was spirited out of the country following the Bolshevik Revolution -- hung over the desk of the pope, who had hoped to deliver it personally, but Patriarch Alexy has resisted such a visit.

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