Members of the Orthodox-Catholic working group working at strengthening ties between the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches reaffirmed that proselytizing among the Orthodox Christians was unacceptable, said a representative of the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate.”It was reconfirmed that all statements, which the Catholic Church itself had adopted on a high level, should form a basis for further development of Orthodox-Catholic cooperation, removal of existing problems and restoration of good relationships,” Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin(pic'd alongside), the patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations’ deputy head and the working group co-chairman, told Interfax.
The Jan. 26 meeting, which was the fifth for the group, also reflected on the ”Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism” recently reprinted by the Holy See’s nunciature to the Russian Federation.
”The group members expressed their hope that this document’s norms, which exclude proselytism among the Orthodox Christians, shall ever be a firm basis for development of relationships between the two churches,” the meeting’s official final report said.
A number of other issues concerning mixed marriages, Catholic orphanages active in Russia and the Roman Catholic Church’s pastoral and social structures in Russia were also discussed.
‘We ought to cooperate more and better in those Catholic orphanages, where they have Orthodox children. Sometimes this cooperation goes well, sometimes it does not, and then it needs to step up,’ Father Chaplin said.
The working group members also affirmed their commitment to be more active studying local situations and expressed mutual interest for developing relationships between the two churches for the benefit of their believers and all people of the European continent.
‘It is important that we can find common points in many issues connected with the need to witness for Christ in the modern world. In this sphere our positions completely agree,” said Father Igor Kowalewski, secretary of the Russian Conference of Catholic Bishops and working group’s other co-chairman, told Interfax.
”Our joint group has already brought forth positive results and has been appreciated by the hierarchs of the both Churches, in particular by (Russian Orthodox) Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and by the head of the (Vatican) Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Cardinal Walter Kasper,” he said.
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