KAZAN ICON RETURNED, TO DIFFERING REACTIONS

Moscow, Aug. 30 (CWNews.com) - As a Vatican delegation restored a precious icon to the Russian Orthodox Church, in a heavily anticipated August 28 ceremony, the Holy See emphasized the importance of the gesture, while the Russian Patriarchate downplayed it.

The famous icon of Our Lady of Kazan was handed over to Russian Patriarch Alexei II in a Saturday ceremony that took place in Moscow's Orthodox cathedral, as the Eastern Church celebrated the feast of the Dormition. At the same time, the Holy See released the text of the Pope's accompanying message to Patriarch Alexei.

"Despite the division which sadly still persists between Christians, this sacred icon appears as a symbol of the unity" of Christ's followers, the Pope wrote. He told the Russian prelated that he had often "prayed before this sacred icon, asking that the day may come when we will all be united." And he concluded his message by sending the Patriarch "a fraternal kiss in our Lord."

Patriarch Alexei, in turn, thanked the Pope for making "the first step toward restoring brotherly relations." But in comments to the press after the ceremony, he underlined his insistence that the Vatican must make more concessions to the Orthodox position before further ecumenical progress is possible.

Questioned in particular about the Pope's cherished ambition of visiting Moscow, the Russian Patriarch stated flatly that such a visit would be "impossible" in the current climate. Alexei II has frequently repeated that the Catholic Church must renounce "proselytism" in Eastern Europe, and accept the Orthodox premise that the countries of that region are the "canonical territory" of the Orthodox churches.

In a private meeting with the leaders of the Vatican delegation to Moscow, which took place after the formal ceremony, the Patriarch said that he hoped the Vatican's restoration of the icon of Kazan "will be followed by other acts so that our relations will improve in the future."

The Patriarch also said that the Catholic and Orthodox faithful should work together "to resist the secularization of society, and stand against totalitarian sects."

Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow, the leading Catholic prelate in Russia, was a member of the Vatican delegation taking part in the August 28 ceremony. But the AsiaNews service observed that while a Lutheran group led by the Bishop of Oslo was given an official role in the ceremony at Moscow's Orthodox cathedral, the city's Catholics were not.

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