Pontiff May Visit Romania, Officials Say
Romania could become the first predominantly Orthodox country to receive a visit from Pope John Paul II, according to Orthodox officials in Bucharest.
A statement released July 24 by the Romanian Orthodox Church’s synod said it “proved receptive” to a possible papal visit. It said “unofficial consultations” between representatives of the Romanian church and the Vatican about a visit will begin this fall.
But the synod statement also said a papal visit could not be separated from the question of relations between the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Rite church that remains loyal to Rome.
There has been tension in recent months between the two bodies over the question of church property. During the Communist era, the Greek Catholic Church was outlawed and its properties turned over to the Orthodox.
Despite being re-legalized in 1990, the Greek Catholics have regained fewer than 100 of the estimated 2,000 buildings they had before World War II.
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