“Now that the ever-more secularised world calls us to common preaching and witness, the words of Our Lord sound out louder and stronger than ever before. Wait no longer. Times passes and we need to use it to defend our moral values and build a more just world”, declared the Archbishop of Moscow, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, in concluding the ecumenical meeting held on 25 January, at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in the Muscovite cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. Participants at the meeting, which opened with a mass for Christian unity officiated by the Primate of the Russian Catholic Church, included representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Church of Seventh Day Adventists, Russian Union for Baptist Churches, and some pastors of the Lutheran Church. The theme for discussion was the current condition of Russian society, the challenges and risks of the new century. Unanimous approval was expressed to the Catholic Church in Russia for having wished to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: “an idea that deserves to be supported”, said the Orthodox priest Alexander Vasiytin, while the Adventist Victro Vitko expressed gratitude to the organizers “for encouraging in us a dedication to unity”. According to a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church, “it’s important to join together in combating evil”. The bishop Sergei Ryakhovskij underlined the need for “a joint commitment with the faithful of the various denominations to defend the right to freedom of faith”.
