The Conference of European Churches (KEK) could play an important role in promoting dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. So said the secretary general of KEK, Keith Clements, on his return from a journey to Moscow made at the end of February to test the state of the ecumenical movement in the country. In the Russian capital Clements had a personal meeting both with Patriarch Alexis II and with Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk, head of the foreign relations department of the Patriarchate. Among the issues discussed were the Ecumenical Charter, the next Assembly of the KEK (which will be held in Trondheim, in Norway) and the recent tensions registered in relations between the Catholic Church and the Patriarchate of Moscow. The secretary general explained that the Russian Church has encountered great difficulties with the Ecumenical Charter due to the difficult ecumenical situation that reigns in the country but pledged the KEK’s continuing effort to ensure that the process of gaining the document’s acceptance proceeds, as hoped by the Churches in Strasbourg.
