Catholic-Russian Orthodox dialogue proceeds slowly, cardinal says

Published: 2005-06-27

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even with Pope Benedict XVI pledging to make ecumenism a priority of his pontificate and the Russian Orthodox Church welcoming his election, the Catholic-Russian Orthodox dialogue is proceeding slowly. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, visited Moscow June 20-23 for talks with his Russian Orthodox counterpart, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. The cardinal did not meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, but he told the Moscow Catholic newspaper Svet Evangelia that no meeting had been planned. "I did not ask to meet him because we are still at the beginning of our work," Cardinal Kasper said. "Our aim now is to discuss some technical and concrete matters." The Svet Evangelia interview was translated from Russian and distributed by AsiaNews, an Italian-based missionary news agency.

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