The Council of bishops of the Orthodox Church opened in Moscow on Sunday 3 October with a solemn liturgy presided by Patriarch Alexis II, it is due to close on 8 October. Opening the meeting, the Patriarch mentioned among other things relations with the Catholic Church in Rome, dwelling on both lights and shadows. Among the “positive factors”, Alexis mentioned the return of the icon of the Madonna of Kazan and the creation of a joint working group to study and resolve the questions that divide the two Churches. We hope, said the Patriarch, “that confirmed episodes of proselytism in various regions will bring the Vatican to take real measures to placate the concerns of our faithful”. These concerns, added Alexis II, are characterised by “tensions provoked by a series of unfriendly acts on the part of the Vatican”, such as the creation of four Catholic dioceses in Russia and Kazakhstan and two Episcopal cathedrals in “traditionally Orthodox regions” of Ukraine. The Patriarch did, however, recognise that “there are people within the Catholic Church open to constructive dialogue”, with the aim of “improving relations” with the Russian Orthodox Church “not in word but in deed”. For his part, the Metropolitan Kirill – head of the department of foreign relations of the Patriarchate – spoke of an improvement in relations with Rome. “It may be admitted that something has begun to move and to have an effect on the situation”. Kirill made reference to two meetings of the mixed working group, created after the first visit to Moscow this year by Cardinal Walter Kasper.
