Alexy II Wants Better Ties With Next Pope
Reuters
AP
ROME -- Patriarch Alexy II said in an interview published Wednesday he hoped the next pope would have the "necessary tact" to improve strained relations between the two churches.
The Russian Orthodox Church prevented Pope John Paul II from fulfilling a long-held dream of visiting Russia -- where there are more than half a million Catholics -- because it was worried Rome was trying to poach Orthodox followers.
In an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, Alexy said he regretted that a planned meeting with the pope in Austria in 1997 had not materialized but said the Catholic side was to blame for not condemning proselytism.
Alexy expressed his respect for John Paul and praised him for reinvigorating the Roman Catholic Church, but he said the problems between the churches were deeply rooted.
"I maintain that the Catholic side must show the will to commit itself to the difficult and delicate task of radically changing its policy in Russia and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States," Alexy said.
"Above all it must reject proselytism," he added.
"I sincerely hope the next Holy Father of the Roman Catholic Church will contribute to developing relations with the Russian Orthodox Church in a positive direction, and will prove to have wisdom and the necessary tact," he was quoted as saying.
The Orthodox Church sent a delegation to John Paul's funeral but Alexy himself did not attend.
One of John Paul's greatest regrets was that he never visited Russia, where he hoped to heal the split between the churches, which stems from the Great Schism of 1054 between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity.