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Published by
Zenit.org,
August 31, 2004
Message From Patriarch Alexy II to John Paul II
on Return of Icon of Kazan
VATICAN CITY, AUG. 31, 2004 (Zenit.org).-
Here is the message addressed to John Paul II by
His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and to
the Russian People, delivered by Cardinal Walter
Kasper, head of the Holy See's delegation that
returned the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan to
Russia. The text was published this Tuesday by the
Vatican press office.
* * *
Your Holiness,
I wholeheartedly thank you for having handed the
Kazan Icon of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos
and Ever Virgin Mary over to the Russian Orthodox
Church. On August 28, 2004, the Feast of the most
glorious Dormition or the Theotokos, the
representative delegation of the Roman Catholic
Church led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of
the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, presented us with this icon after a solemn
divine service at the Cathedral of the Dormition
in the Moscow Kremlin, which was overcrowded with
the faithful who came on this sacred day to lift
up their prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos.
The transfer of this holy icon brought over by
your envoys is seen by the Plenitude of the
Russian Orthodox Church as both an act of the
restoration of justice and an act of good will on
the part of Your Holiness. I believe that your
decision to hand over the icon points to the
sincere desire to overcome the difficulties
existing in relations between our two Churches.
May this event become our common contribution to
the overcoming of negative consequences of the
20th century history marked with persecution
against the faith of Christ unprecedented in
scale.
The veneration of the Mother of God as "the
zealous intercessor for the Christian race" (Akathistos
to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God) -the
veneration common to the Orthodox and Catholic
Churches -brings us back to the times of the Early
Church when there were no divisions between East
and West so visible, regretfully, in our days. The
Russian Orthodox Church, always, even in the most
difficult moments in her relations with the Roman
Catholic Church, has invariably stated her
willingness to develop these relations in the
spirit of sincere cooperation. We see in the
transfer of the Kazan Icon a step in the right
direction in the belief that in the future
everything that is possible will be done to settle
certain problems standing between our Churches.
Good relations between the Russian Orthodox and
the Roman Catholic Churches, which "the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Is 9:6)
calls us to realize not in words but in deeds, are
extremely important for the future of Europe and
the whole world. The preaching of Christian values
to the secularized society will be successful only
if all Christians fulfill the Savior's commandment
of love: "Love one another as I have loved you" (Jn
13:34). Openness in relations among Christians of
various confessions presupposes respect for one
another, knowledge of their common history and
sensitivity in carrying out any actions in
territories where another Christian tradition has
existed far centuries.
Once again, I would like to thank Your Holiness
from my heart for the gift and to express hope
that the Most Holy Theotokos as "a swift and
selfless healer of infirmities and divisions" (Akathistos
to the Kazan Icon of the Theotokos) will send Her
grace and mercy upon the faithful of our two
Churches.
With love in the Lord,
+ Alexy II
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
[Original text: Russian. Official English
translation]
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