Moscow, Jun. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A visiting prelate from Rome has told reporters in Moscow that a summit meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II could take place soon. But the top ecumenical official of the Moscow patriarchate has cautioned that no such meeting is currently being planned.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said that the multiplication of friendly contacts between the Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate is enhancing the prospects for a summit meeting. Cardinal Poupard-- who is in Moscow this week to participate in a conference on Christianity and culture, said that officials both in Rome and Moscow have an interest in bringing about such a meeting.
However Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk, who heads the ecumenical office for the Moscow patriarchate, dismissed rumors that plans are already being made for a meeting between the Patriarch and the Pope. "It's difficult to say who circulated these rumors," the Russian prelate told the Interfax news service; "perhaps someone who wants to keep them rolling."
"Someone has probably gotten ahead of events," Metropolitan Kirill said. He confirmed that Orthodox and Catholic officials are pursuing numerous ecumenical initiatives, but said that the joint efforts are necessary steps toward a closer relationship. In the future, he said, a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch may be possible, but it "is not on the agenda right now."
In his address to the Moscow conference on "Christianity, Culture and Moral Values," Cardinal Poupard said that Catholic and Orthodox leaders are "rediscovering the unity of our common spiritual roots." Christians of all denominations should work together, he said, to protect Europe's future from the destructive influences of a materialistic secular culture.