A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 16 - Tuesday, April 20th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Alexy II Calls for Christian Unity (AP) - Patriarch Alexy II, the leader of Russia's Orthodox Church, said Saturday that this year's Easter celebration, which Orthodox and Catholics are observing at the same time, provided a good opportunity to promote Christian unity. "All of us must seek Christian unity," Alexy II was quoted as saying by Interfax. Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the leader of Russia's Roman Catholics, called this year's simultaneous Easter celebration "a sign from above," Interfax said. "Such coincidences should stimulate members of various denominations to show an even greater zeal in building up inter-Christian dialogue," he was quoted as saying. Tensions have increased markedly between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and communist restrictions on religion faded. The Russian Orthodox leadership has accused Catholics of poaching converts in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. The Russian Orthodox Church also is angered by Vatican plans to elevate the Greek Catholic presence in western Ukraine into a full patriarchate. It alleges that Greek Catholics, who retain Eastern-rite rituals but recognize the pope's supremacy, have accelerated their expansion into traditionally Orthodox eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Vatican
contends it has the right to be active in Russia,
which had small Catholic communities before the
Bolshevik Revolution. The Roman Catholic Church
has sought to recover churches that were seized
after the revolution, and has drawn followers
among Orthodox believers attracted by its social
programs and community outreach. |
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