Russian Patriarch Refuses to Meet Pope

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II refused to meet with Pope John Paul II, who traveled to Hungary on his first foreign visit since a bout of intestinal illness last month. The Vatican had said that a meeting between John Paul and Alexi could lead to a historic visit to Moscow. But the patriarch, reportedly under pressure from conservatives alarmed by Roman Catholic missionary efforts in Russia, turned down the invitation. Instead, the pope turned to Hungarian Catholics and urged them to take strength from the hardships they endured under years of communism. “Just as the people of other times were able to begin over again, drawing renewed strength from the trials they had undergone,” John Paul said, “so will it be again.”