Il Papa goes East (??)

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican is hoping for a visit to Moscow by Pope Benedict XVI but there are no concrete plans for such a pilgrimage, a top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday.

"Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church have improved, and we're committed to improving them more," Cardinal Walter Kasper, the pope's top official on efforts for Christian unity, told a news conference."Let's hope then that the time for a meeting matures, but at the moment there is nothing concrete in the works," for a visit by Benedict to meet Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow, the cardinal said.

Tensions between the Catholic Church and Orthodox in Moscow prevented the late John Paul II from realizing his desire to make a papal pilgrimage to Moscow.The two churches have been feuding over property that was confiscated during former Soviet rule. The Orthodox have accused Catholics of poaching for converts in Russia after the demise of communism there, while the Vatican rejects the charge, contending it needs to care for its tiny flock of some 600,000 Catholics in a country of some 140 million.

"There are still prejudices to be overcome," Kasper said. Alexy late last year held the door open for a possible meeting with Benedict — possibly in a third country — provided the two churches make progress in tackling their disagreements. Alexy has said a papal visit would only be possible after the Catholic Church stops allegedly seeking converts in Russia and discriminating against the Orthodox in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, both the Vatican and Orthodox have proposed cooperating more closely in protecting traditional Christian values.

Among them is opposition to same-sex marriages and opposition to abortion and euthanasia.

Benedict is scheduled to give a speech dealing with efforts toward Christian unity during a ceremony on Thursday in a Rome basilica.Kasper said that whatever problems still persist to divide Christians, the Vatican was committed to pursuing dialogue."Even if we haven't reached the definitive ecumenical goal, that is, full unity of Christians, we have established a network of relations and of forms of getting closer from which there is no turning back," the cardinal said.

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, dedicated much of the energy of his more than 26-year-long papacy toward overcoming difference among Christians, and the present pope has pledged to continue the efforts.

In November, Benedict journeyed to Istanbul, the historical headquarters for the Orthodox, to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox faithful.