After the Pope’s gift of the icon of Kazan to the Patriarch of Moscow and of all the Russias Alexis II, there’s a better climate in relations between the two Churches. So said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, at the end of a journey to Moscow at the head of a delegation specially composed by the Holy See to return the sacred image of the Madonna to the veneration of the Russian people. The handing-over ceremony was held in the cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin, heart of Russian Orthodoxy, on 28 August. On his return to Rome, Cardinal Kasper was received in audience by the Pope, to report on the trip. In an interview granted to the Asianews press agency, he spoke of having found “a cordial and serene atmosphere” in Moscow, very different from the “cold” climate of his previous visit in February. In the cardinal’s view, “the main difference between this meeting and that in February was this: the icon of Kazan touched the hearts of the Russian people”. Kasper also recalls the setting up of a bilateral Commission to solve problems in relations between the two Churches, especially the complaints of the Orthodox Church about so-called proselytism. As regards the problem of uniatism, involving the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church, the cardinal spoke of a “very difficult problem”. Even for the Pope added Kasper it has not been easy to respond to the requests of Greek-Catholic Ukrainians: “the Holy Father explained Kasper believes their desire to be given the status of a patriarchate legitimate, but this will only happen according to the will of Providence”.
