Yesterday, Bishop Mark Yegorievsk , Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Foreign Relations Department, welcomed in Moscow Mgr Dominique Mamberti, Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States. The meeting was also attended by Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, vice-chairman of the Department, and by Mgr Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation, among others. According to a staement released by the Patriarchate, Bishop Mark focussed on “the positive aspects of the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See,” giving particular emphasis to the handover of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Bari to the Russians, which occurred last 2 March in the presence of presidents Medvedev and Napolitano. Vsevolod Chaplin spoke about the cooperation that the Russian Orthodox Church may have with the Holy See in Europe and with some international organisations as OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union in the “conviction” that both Churches “have a vast field of action” for a “fruitful collaboration,” he said, as “their positions on current issues are much similar.” The statement also reported that during the meeting “the difficulties between the two Churches were also discussed.” Archbishop Pennini reported to the INTERFAX agency that the “meeting was held in an amicable atmosphere.”
© SIR