Official of Russian Orthodox Church likes his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI

The meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church with Pope Benedict XVI was found "very positive".

Metropolitan Kirill, the top foreign relations official in the Russian church, held private talks with Benedict at the Vatican.

The Vatican gave no details of the talks, but in an interview with Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, Kirill said the visit left him "with great sentiments of hope."

Relations between Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholics in the former Communist land have been particularly tense at times.

The Russian Orthodox Church has accused Roman Catholics of improperly seeking converts in traditionally Russian Orthodox areas. The Vatican has rejected the claim, saying it only ministers to the country's Catholics, mostly of Eastern European and German origin, and who number about 600,000 in a country of 142 million.

The tensions prevented Pope John Paul II from realizing his dream of visiting Moscow during his quest to bring Orthodox and Catholics closer together.

Benedict has also made efforts toward Orthodox-Catholic unity a priority of his pontificate.

Kirill was quoted as sounding a cautiously upbeat note when the Vatican newspaper asked him to describe relations between the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Catholic Church.

"Very positive," Kirill replied. "Just as the meeting with the pope for me was very positive and very beautiful."

"We await and we hope for a positive development of our relations so that, finally, Russian Catholics live in peace with Russian Orthodox," the metropolitan was quoted as saying.

He renewed his call for both sides to work together to strengthen Christian influence in Europe.

"Catholics and Orthodox are ever more united in facing the multiple challenges that come to us from the contemporary world and from secularization," Kirill said. "This must encourage us to pay witness together to the Christian values in our society."

From REUTERS

Pope Benedict held a rare meeting on Friday with a senior cleric from the Russian Orthodox Church in a bid to improve often strained relations.

Metropolitan Kirill, the head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, was expected to speak with reporters later on Friday. The Vatican did not immediately release any details about the closed-door meeting.

The Russian Orthodox Church split from Rome in the Great Schism of 1054. It had chilly relations with Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II -- a Pole who had campaigned against the atrocities of communism and sought in vain to visit post-communist Russia.

Since Benedict's election in 2005, relations have improved and Vatican officials have said they are working towards an eventual meeting between the Pontiff and Russian Patriarch Alexiy II.

BIG CHILL IS OVER

Kirill recently told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano "the big chill is over and it's thawing time" for ties. He said the two churches share the same spiritual and moral problems and should work together.

But problems remain. Kirill recently called on the Vatican to reverse a 2002 decision to create new Catholic diocese in Russia, something it considers to be an infringement on the Russian church's local territory and power.

The Russians also walked out of a key Catholic-Orthodox meeting of theologians earlier this year that produced a document with other Orthodox churches that the Vatican hailed as a step on the long road toward reconciliation.

In a joint declaration, the theologians agreed the Pope held the highest rank in the unified Church before the 1054 schism -- a statement that could allow Catholic and Orthodox worshippers to work more closely. It also made clear neither side yet agreed on what power came with that rank.

Still, the Russian Orthodox Church is the largest and most influential in worldwide Orthodoxy, which is organized under national churches totaling some 220 million members.

The Vatican, which leads the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, has said dialogue must include the Russians.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.