Russian Orthodox bishop appeals for Catholic-Orthodox alliance

Published: 2005-09-29

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A Russian Orthodox bishop has appealed for the formation of a Catholic-Orthodox alliance to negotiate with European institutions and members of other faiths on behalf of "traditional Christianity." "Europe has so rapidly de-Christianized that urgent action is needed to save it from losing its centuries-old Christian identity," said Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vienna and Austria, the Russian church's representative to the European Union. "I strongly believe the time has come for Catholics and Orthodox to unite their efforts," the bishop said at an ecumenical congress in Gniezno, Poland, on the role of Christians in contemporary Europe. "We need a strategic alliance, and we need it here and now. In 20, 30 or 40 years, it may simply be too late." He said the alliance would bring together representatives of European Catholic bishops' conferences and Orthodox churches and noted that the group would seek a "common position on all major social and ethical issues," including the family, sex and bioethics.

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