Catholics and Russian Orthodox Seen as Allies

(May 20, 2010) While a meeting between Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Pope Benedict XVI has not been scheduled, the head of ecumenical relations for the Russian church hinted that the possibility of such a meeting is greater than ever. Metropolitian Hilarion of Volokolamsk, president of the Moscow Patriarchate's office for external relations, told reporters at the Vatican May 19 that there is some possibility of such a meeting. That council, along with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Moscow Patriarchate, is sponsoring a Day of Russian Culture and Spirituality in the Vatican, being held Thursday. Archbishop Hilarion, himself an accomplished music composer, noted how culture, art and music have become indispensable in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. Through this language, "we can say what we cannot express with diplomatic or political words," he contended. "It is possible to live this dialogue at several levels, also with simple persons." As part of the cultural event, there will be a concert Thursday in honour of Pope Benedict XVI, sponsored by the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Kirill I. Archbishop Hilarion said that other cultural changes call increasingly for an open dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox. For his part, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the cultural event can become an opportunity "to deepen our ecumenical relations themselves in a new dimension."