Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Attended the 24th National Eucharistic Congress in Italy

The 24^th National Eucharistic Congress of Italy organized by the Roman Catholic Church on the theme ‘Without Resurrection We Cannot Live’ took place in Bari, Italy, from May 21 to 29, 2005. Taking part in the Congress at the invitation of the Catholic side were representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Archbishop Kirill of Yaroslavl and Rostov, rector of the representation church of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bari Archpriest Vladimir Kuchumov and Alexei V.Dolgov, a staff member of the Secretariat for Inter-Christian relations of the DECR MP.

Reports of the representatives of Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism were presented on May 25. Archbishop Kirill of Yaroslavl and Rostov was a reporter from the Orthodox side. Two other reporters were Walter Cardinal Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Bishop Eero Huovinen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Archbishop Kirill’s report was dedicated to the Orthodox understanding of the Eucharist. He noted that the present social processes inevitably affected eucharistic life of the Christian Churches and emphasized the importance of the common response of Christians of different confessions to many challenges of the present-day world.