” ” The visit to Russia paid by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Papal Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, offered Pope Benedict XVI the opportunity to express Patriarch Alexius II his personal "esteem" and appreciation for his "commitment to improve relationships between Catholics and Orthodox". Those words were in the message which Card. Kasper personally sent to Alexius II in Moscow yesterday. Alexius II is the Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias. "It is with joy that I am looking at the experience of growing vicinity between us it was written in the message made known by the Vatican press room today, accompanied with the common desire to promote real Christian values and give account of that to our Lord, in deeper and deeper communion". In the letter, Benedict XVI recalled the recent visit of His Holiness Alexius II to Strasbourg (where the Patriarch also delivered a speech at the European Parliament) and Paris. He also underlined the "warm welcome" through which the Patriarch met Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, Catholic archbishop of the archdiocese of Mother of God in Moscow on the occasion of Christmas celebrations. (To be continued)
