Pope salutes Alexy II
Medvedev cancels visit after death of Orthodox Church head
(ANSA) -
Vatican City,
December 5 - 2008
Pope Benedict XVI on Friday sent the Russian Orthodox Church his condolences for the death of its head, Patriarch Alexy II.
Despite past tension, Benedict recalled ''a common commitment on the path of mutual understanding and cooperation between Orthodox and Catholics''.
He praised Russia's first post-Communist-era Church chief for his efforts in fostering ''the rebirth of the Church after harsh ideological oppression'' and his ''good fight in defence of human and evangelical rights'' in Europe.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano phoned Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to voice his sorrow at Alexy's death at the age of 79 after long heart problems. Napolitano described ''the high moral stature'' of the late Russian church leader and praised his ecumenical work, the Italian president's office said, noting that Napolitano met Alexy in Moscow last July.
Medvedev told Napolitano he was flying straight back to Moscow from a state visit to India and would be unable to attend a ceremony in Bari to return a Russian orthodox church dedicated to St Nicholas to Russia.
The two presidents agreed to reschedule the ceremony as soon as possible.
Rome's influential Catholic human rights and peace-brokering organisation, the Sant'Egidio Community, also mourned Alexy II and praised his efforts in bringing Catholic and Orthodox Churches closer.
The Vatican has had seesawing relations with the Russian Orthodox Church over the years but the last two popes always hoped for a meeting that might have been a historic stage in reuniting the eastern and western branches of Christianity, which have been divided since 1054.
In June 2007 Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, told journalists that Benedict and Alexy II were both open to an encounter, probably on neutral ground, ''within a year''.
