Pope Makes a Virtual Visit to Russia

He may never set foot on Russian soil in his lifetime, but Pope John Paul II visited in spirit and image, at least, in a teleconference Saturday night that was criticized by the Russian Orthodox patriarch as “an invasion.”

The gothic spires of Moscow’s Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception loomed against a pearly evening sky as hundreds flocked to the church to pray with the pope.

Among them were a few Muscovites drawn by curiosity and even some Orthodox believers who don’t share Patriarch Alexi II’s apparent hostility to the Vatican.

The pope, 81 and frail, has made clear his fervent desire to visit Russia. He was invited by former leaders Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Boris N. Yeltsin but was blocked by the Russian Orthodox Church.

President Vladimir V. Putin said in January that he would like to see the pope visit Russia but that the two churches must resolve their differences before that can happen.

As the pontiff delivered a brief message in Russian on a large screen in the Moscow cathedral, joyful cheers and applause rose toward the vaulted ceiling.

“We remain always united in faith and in the service of the gospel,” he said, his words almost lost amid the delighted response of participants.

Given that Roman Catholics form such a small minority in Russia--there are about 500,000 believers in the nation of 146 million--and given the fierce Orthodox opposition, there was no Russian TV station interested in broadcasting the pope’s address. The service was beamed to the Moscow cathedral at the same time it was broadcast in Rome, Athens and Vienna, as well as in Budapest, Hungary; Strasbourg, France; and Valencia, Spain.

Although John Paul has sought unity of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, which have been divided since 1054, the pope’s activities in recent years have infuriated the Russian Orthodox Church.

His “virtual” visit Saturday was a typical case, exacerbating Orthodox indignation over a recent Vatican decision to establish four formal dioceses in Russia. That decision generated small anti-Vatican street protests, a reproof from the Foreign Ministry and a parliamentary investigation into Catholic proselytizing on Orthodox territory.

A papal visit to Ukraine last year likewise angered the Moscow patriarchate, which warned that relations would deteriorate so sharply as a result that a meeting of the two church leaders would be rendered almost impossible.

The Moscow patriarchate believes that the Roman Catholic Church has been poaching its flock in Russia and Ukraine, stealing souls that rightfully belong to the Orthodox Church.

For Orthodox believers such as Ludmila Yefremova, 65, the patriarchate’s opposition to a papal visit is a source of anguish and disappointment.

“I’m Orthodox, but I love the pope. He is a saintly person. I know that he loves the entire world,” Yefremova said Saturday before the teleconference.

She said she was disappointed that Alexi II would not reach out and embrace the pope.

“His [the patriarch’s] entourage is rigid and unbending. He’s having a hard time. I’m very frustrated by this latest conflict. All my prayers are about that,” she said.

Father Innokenty Pavlov, a Russian Orthodox abbot and teacher at St. Andrew’s Theological Institute in Moscow, attended the teleconference and said he found it inspiring and promising.

“The TV conference signified the appearance of a full-fledged Catholic Church presence in Russia,” said Pavlov, a strong supporter of uniting the churches. “There’s nothing negative about it. There are people in Russia who needed it, and today they got what they needed.”

Pavlov said Russian Orthodox fears of expansion by the Catholic Church are not simply paranoia: It will expand, he believes.

“Alexi II is afraid that a much more successful parallel church will emerge in Russia that will not be accountable to Moscow anymore but will be accountable to the Vatican,” he said.

In the cathedral, awaiting the pope’s appearance, Moscow’s Catholic leader, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, said that if Europe could unite around a single currency, believers should unite around God.

“If people can unite for the sake of economic benefit, why is it that we Christians, believers in one Savior, still remain divided? It is nothing but a scandal, and we must try to overcome our difficulties,” Kondrusiewicz said.

To some Catholics attending the teleconference, Alexi II’s reluctance to accept a papal visit was puzzling.

“He’s patriarch of all Russia, yet he doesn’t behave like a true Christian. I don’t understand his hostility to the Catholic Church,” said Akop Darbinyan, 37, a builder who has lived in Moscow for 13 years. “Christians are all Christians. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Darbinyan said his dream is that someday the pope will touch his head in blessing.

Sister Agnes Savitska, 34, a Polish nun in the office of the archbishop, said there are many spiritually hungry people in Russia.

“There are a lot of people here who want to believe. There is so much work to be done here, so much space. People are looking for God, and we have to be out here to help them,” she said.

But Deacon Andrei Kurayev, a professor of orthodox theology at St. Tikhon’s Institute in Moscow, who was not present at the teleconference, called it a show that, to Orthodox believers, resembled a “comical personality cult.”

“If the pope wishes so strongly to bring about the unity of all Christians in the world, let him start with settling some intra-Catholic conflicts first,” Kurayev said. “Once that’s done, we will see whether he should proceed with treating the rift with the Orthodox world.”