” ““The gestures and words of new fraternity between the shepherds of the Lord’s flock show how an increasingly intensive cooperation in truth and love helps increase the spirit of communion, which must guide the steps of all baptised people”. This was written by Benedict XVI in a letter to Alexius II, the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, on the occasion of the patriarch’s birthday and saint’s day. In the letter, delivered by card. Roger Etchegaray on February 20th, the Pope wrote that “today’s world needs to hear voices which point at the way to peace, at respect for everybody, at the condemnation of every violence, at the superior dignity of everyone and the innate rights that are due to them”. “In this day and age, in which laicism is rapidly growing wrote Alexius II in his reply Christianity faces serious challenges that need a common testimony. I am sure one of the priorities of our Churches, which have a shared view of many current problems of today’s world, must be the defence and the spreading, across society, of the Christian values which humanity has been living off for over one thousand years. I hope this will be helped by the quick settlement of the problems that stand between the two Churches”. The exchange of letters was accompanied by an exchange of presents: the Pope sent a gold medal of the pontificate, Alexius II reciprocated by sending a pectoral.
