Vatican, Orthodox Church Begin Talks

The Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church have opened a series of meetings aimed at improving relations frozen for more than a year in a dispute over the creation of Roman Catholic dioceses in Russia, the Vatican said this week. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, met in Geneva on Wednesday with Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who is in charge of external church relations, the council said.

“In an open conversation, they agreed to hold further consultations aimed at resolving the problems which exist between the two churches,” the brief statement said.

Relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, strained since the fall of communism, have been frozen since February 2002, when Pope John Paul II promoted four apostolic administrations in Russia to the status of dioceses, making up a new ecclesiastical province of Moscow.

Patriarch Alexey II canceled a scheduled visit by Kasper and virtually severed relations with the Vatican. The Russian government then expelled a Catholic bishop and four priests.

In recent months, however, Alexey has signaled a willingness to resume talks and indicated he might even consider a papal visit to Moscow.