Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service ) – From 25 to 28 January a delegation of the Rome based charity association S. Egidio Community led by its Spiritual Counsellor Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, Bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia paid another visit to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. On the occasion Bishop Paglia had a meeting with His Holiness Aleksij II, Patriarch di Moscow and all Russia, and Kyrill Metropolita of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and also President of the department for relations with other countries of the Patriarchate of Moscow. The subjects of discussion included the present situation of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church and prospects for further collaboration between the Russian Orthodox Church and the S. Egidio Community in various fields such as cooperation, cultural exchange, international commitment which it is hoped will be concretised during this year 2004.
On the occasion of the meeting Bishop Paglia presented Patriarch Aleksij and Metropolita Kyrill with the first copy of a book “Santità e carità tra Oriente e Occidente” (Holiness and Charity between East and West) containing the acts of an International Convention held in October 2002 in Terni.
Relations of brotherly friendship and collaboration between the S. Egidio Community and the Russian Orthodox Church, gradually built up since the mid 1980s, have produced several initiatives of meeting and dialogue. The most recent include a visit to Moscow by the S. Egidio delegation in January 2003, when Bishop Paglia presented Patriarch Alexij with a relic of St Valentine martyr bishop Terni, and the presence of Metropolita Kyrill at the annual “People and Religions” meeting organised by the S. Egidio Community held in 2003 at Aachen, Germany, in September. (S.L.) (Fides Service 2/2/2004; lines 19 - words 266)
