From today, card. Crescenzio Sepe, archbishop of Naples, will be in Moscow, where he will remain until October 3rd, as the guest of His Holiness Alexius II, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The news was given by the diocese of Naples, that defines the event as "groundbreaking" for the Church of Naples, "whose pastor has been granted an unprecedented privilege", because, "for the very first time, a bishop, a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, has been officially invited by the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the spirit of the world inter-religious meeting celebrated in Naples last October", when card. Sepe gave the Russian religious community of Naples the Church of Santa Maria del Buon Morire as a gift, giving the keys personally to the metropolitan bishop Kirill, number two of the Orthodox Church. "A gesture states a release that was widely appreciated in Russia by the highest Orthodox hierarchy and considered not just an expression of true spiritual and human friendship, but also an effective proof of the ecumenical process and inter-religious dialogue, the basic subjects that will be the focus of the meetings and talks which will take place this week in the Russian capital". The archbishop of Naples will meet Kirill tomorrow evening, September 30th, then he will be received by Alexius II, at 12 am on October 1s.
