Cathedral of the Daniilovsky Monastery in Moscow, the headquarters of the Moscow Patriarchte
Moscow, 29 October 2008 (Interfax):
The Moscow Patriarchate is planning to participate in the celebrations that shall be a part of The Year of Russia in France, which is scheduled for 2010. “The [Moscow Patriarchate] intends to participate in this endeavour, and it shall send some of its sacred objects to France so that Orthodox and believers of other Christian confessions may pray before them”, Patriarch Aleksei II told journalists on Wednesday at the Daniilovsky Monastery after his meeting with Monsignor André Armand Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, the Chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of France. His Holiness said that this gesture was in response to an invitation of Monsignor André.
Patriarch Aleksei also noted that there are many common tasks facing both churches today, in particular, in the sphere of preserving moral and intellectual values, which he believes can only be solved through a combined effort and strengthened bilateral relations. “The common historical experience of the Orthodox Church in Russia and the Catholic Church in France can become the basis of our common effort, especially as contacts between Orthodox Russians and French Catholics have a long history”, His Holiness commented. In particular, he called to mind the situation after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War, when many émigrés from Russia lived in France. “Because they were faithful to the traditions of the Orthodox Church in Russia, it had an effect on French Catholic theology, as well”.
Patriarch Aleksei thanked Monsignor André for the opportunity, during his trip to Paris a year ago, to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame and venerate one of the greatest Christian relics, the Crown of Thorns of Our Lord Christ the Saviour and to serve an Orthodox molieben before it. In turn, Monsignor André expressed his appreciation to His Holiness for his cordial reception and he shared his impressions of his recent visit to the St Sergius-Holy Trinity Lavra and the Solovetsky monasteries in the north. Monsignor André said that these visits convinced him “of the tremendous spiritual revival now sweeping the Orthodox Church in Russia, a revival not only of monastic and spiritual life, but, also, a renewing of theological studies”.
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=27137 (in Russian)
