"I hope this visit, the first one of yours, will be interesting and profitable, and meant also for a better knowledge of the remarkable spiritual and cultural heritage of our Church". With those words, Patriarch Alexius of Moscow welcomed the delegation of the French Catholic Church to Moscow yesterday. The delegation was made up of the archbishop of Paris, Card. André Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Montpellier, Msgr. Guy Thomazeau, and the bishop of Pontoise, Msgr. Jean-Yves Riocreux. "We have many problems in common, which have to be debated and solved", said Patriarch Alexius, recalling that both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are worried about "the preservation of the moral and spiritual values in modern society", and he hoped for more similar meetings between the two Churches in the future. "We are trying to develop bilateral relationships and to make them more productive", confirmed the archbishop of Paris, Card. Vingt-Trois. The French delegation had the chance to visit an Orthodox monastery, changed by the Bolshevik into a concentration camp: "I am particularly grateful to His Beatitude said Card. Vingt-Trois – for the opportunity to visit the Solovetsky Monastery, which is a symbol of the oppression of the Church in the century. It is also a remarkable token of faith, which is above any proofs".
