Alexy II says Vatican should stop proselytism in CIS

24 June 2008, 17:43

Moscow, June 24, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has noted the development of a dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, but he has also drawn attention to a series of problems, such as what he called the proselytism of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia and the CIS.

"Today we can see that there is a positive dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church on a range of pressing issues, especially such issues as the protection of traditional Christian values, the role of religion in social life, the problem of morals and the attitude toward the institution of family," Alexy II told the assembly of Orthodox bishops in Moscow on Tuesday.

Relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Catholic Church nonetheless "retain problems requiring a real solution, including the 'issue of missionary activity on the part of Catholics on traditionally Orthodox turf in Russia and other countries,'" he said.

"We would like also to see the long-awaited progress on the issue of the attitude of Greek Catholics to Orthodox believers in the regions of Western Ukraine where the Uniat Church is predominant. Unfortunately, we have not seen positive developments on this issue, and representatives of the canonic Orthodox Church in most cases continue to suffer oppression on the part of Greek Catholics," he said.

Speaking about contacts with the Protestant churches in foreign countries, the patriarch said that the Russian Orthodox Church has retained "stable and good relations" with its "long-time partners" - the Evangelical Church of Germany and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with which the Russian Orthodox Church had a fruitful dialogue in 2005 and 2008.

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