Delegations of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Russian Orthodox Church have had talks

DELEGATIONS OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HAVE HAD TALKS

Delegations of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Russian Orthodox Church had talks on March 28, 2000, in Geneva. The Constantinople side was represented by Metropolitan John of Pergamon and Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, general secretary of the Holy Synod. The Moscow Patriarchate was represented by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and Archimandrite Yelisey, Department for External Church Relations secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.

The sides agreed to continue consultations concerning a possible restoration of the legal rights of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the churches and other church property which has historically belonged to her.

In connection with the death of the head of the schismatic “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church”, the participants in the talks expressed concern for the aggravation of church situation in Ukraine and agreed on the need to coordinate their common efforts to achieve peace and canonical unity in the church life in Ukraine.

The sides also discussed the identity of the Orthodox parishes under both jurisdictions in Hungary as well as ways for inter-Orthodox coordination with regard to the problems involved in the Orthodox presence in the World Council of Churches. They also exchanged information about the representation of Orthodox interests in the Council of Europe and discussed the status of the Orthodox in Cuba and other current issues.