The Day of Prayer in Assisi
6.02.2002 · English, Архив 2002
THE DAY OF PRAYER IN ASSISI
The Day of Prayer for Peace in the World was observed on January 24 in Assisi, Italy. It was initiated by the Pope John Paul II of Rome. Among the Orthodox participants in the event were His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomaios of Constantinople, His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios of Antioch and All the East, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastatios of Tirana and All Albania and representatives of other Local Orthodox Churches. The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuriev, Bishop Innocent of Korsun and Bishop Hilarion of Kerch.
On January 25, 2002, Pope John Paul II received Metropolitan Pitirim and Bishop Hilarion in audience. In its course, the Pope of Rome expressed the wish to meet His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia to hand him over the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan. Bishop Hilarion, in his turn, expressed the point of view of the Russian Orthodox Church on the present state in relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, describing it as utterly unsatisfactory. He emphasized that His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia was ready in principle to meet the Pope John Paul II of Rome, but this meeting could take place only after a common position was reached on basic problems of interchurch relations. In particular, the both sides should condemn proselytism in all its forms, agree on the inadmissibility of Unia as a method of achieving unity in the past, present and future and recognize and strictly observe the principle of canonical territory.
Bishop Hilarion also expressed hope that the negotiations, which are to take place between delegations of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in February 2002 – the delegation of the latter is to be lead by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontific Council for Promoting Christian Unity – would develop constructive proposals capable of improving essentially the present state in relations between the two Churches.
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