International Orthodox Christian News

PARIS: The slow rapprochement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican - separated for almost a thousand years - gathered momentum Monday as Russia's spiritual leader called for an alliance to promote Christian social values.

At the start of a visit to France, Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, also predicted that a meeting with the pope might take place within two years. The two churches must cooperate to combat the rise of same sex marriages and "propaganda in favor of euthanasia and abortion," the patriarch said in an interview with the daily Le Figaro, adding that he had "the same approach" to Europe's lack of spiritual values as Pope Benedict XVI.

The comments underline a thaw in relations between two churches and a growing willingness to promote common causes, even though the Russian Orthodox Church objects to the activities of Roman Catholic missionaries in Russia and former Soviet Republics.

Relations have improved notably since the death of Pope John Paul II who was regarded with suspicion by the Russian Orthodox hierarchy.

However, the patriarch's brand of moral conservatism could provoke criticism Tuesday in Strasbourg when he addresses the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a body dedicated to upholding civil and human rights, including nondiscrimination.

His brief address to the assembly will focus on human rights and ethical values. Critics have accused him of being too close to the Russian government.

Stanislav Belkovsky, head of the National Strategy Institute, a Russian research organization, said the patriarch traveled as "a direct representative of the Kremlin," and the Russian daily Kommersant suggested Tuesday that the visit aimed to counter European criticism of Russian human rights practices.

The patriarch will also meet with the Catholic Bishops' Conference and President Nicolas Sarkozy. In his interview in Le Figaro, Alexy said that, in terms of a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, he excluded "nothing." It could happen, "perhaps not in a month but in a year or two."

Hans-Gert Pöttering, president of the European Parliament and a practicing Roman Catholic, described the visit to France and meeting with Sarkozy as "highly significant at the current time," adding, "We need this dialogue if we are to avoid a "clash of civilizations."

Despite the positive message from the patriarch, obstacles could still prevent a meeting with the pope. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, underlined the problems of "missionary activities among some people belonging to the Catholic Church in Russia and some Greek Catholics in some parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan."

"Some activities of certain parts of the Roman Catholic Church hurt deeply," he said in an interview by telephone, "and there are those who say the Vatican puts forward one hand for shaking hands and the other to hit us. To avoid this impression it is important to solve the problems in sincere and concrete dialogue."

Nevertheless analysts point to a steady improvement in relations.

"The Vatican's relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church was not going to be easily improved under John Paul II," said Father Leonid Kishkovsky, director of external affairs for the Orthodox Church in America.

Under Benedict, the Russian Orthodox Church has been more willing to stress areas of convergence with the Roman Catholic Church because "they see it as giving them a more resonant voice in a Europe that is highly secular," Kishkovsky said.

Benedict visited Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of the world's 220 million Orthodox, in Istanbul last year.

Anatoly Krasikov, head of the Center for Socio-Religious Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said he did not rule out the possibility of a meeting between Benedict and Alexy.

"I think that sooner or later this meeting must occur," he said. "There is more understanding between both churches." Still, he added, "there is much that still divides Catholics and the Orthodox."

The Reverend Ronald Roberson, an expert on the Orthodox with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the patriarch's comments were significant as it apparently was the first time he had mentioned any concrete time for a meeting with the pope.

"That's an important step forward," Roberson said. "They have never been saying that. They have been saying we can't meet until we have progress on those certain issues. So if he's talking about a meeting in a certain period of time, that is something that is quite new."

Like his predecessor, Benedict has made a closer union with the world's Orthodox, themselves divided into 14 self-ruling churches, a central goal of his papacy. His first trip outside of Rome was to Bari, in southern Italy, a city important to Orthodox and Catholic alike and so considered a bridge between them, and talks between theological experts on both sides restarted last year after six years of dormancy.

Ian Fisher reported from Rome and Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Moscow.

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