The cardinal and his delegation came to Russia at the invitation of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
His Holiness Alexy II welcomed the cardinal and his party to Moscow, saying, ‘It is the first visit of Your Eminence to our country, and I hope it will be interesting and fruitful for you and will make it possible for you to come to a deeper knowledge of the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of our Church, her dramatic history in the 20th century and her life today’.
Patriarch Alexy recalled with gratitude the warm welcomed rendered him by the Catholic Church in France during his visit to Paris and Strasbourg last October. ‘I would like once again to express special gratitude to you for the opportunity for me to venerate our Lord’s Crown of Thorns, a great shrine for all Christians, and to attend the Orthodox prayer service celebrated at it. I cherish the memory of the moving moments I experienced during my visit to Notre Dame. I was deeply moved by the presence of numerous Parisian believers at the service, who openly expressed their warm feelings towards the Russian Orthodox Church’, he said.
He also noted that the copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir he had given to the cathedral was placed at a prominent place and was now venerated by Parisians and visitors to Paris.
In his talk with the Catholic Archbishop of Paris, Patriarch Alexy stressed that the experience of persecution by the godless power made similar the historical journeys covered by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in France. The French Catholics were the first to encounter militant atheism and aggressive secularism during the 1789 Revolution. Thousands of Catholic clergy and laity in France were subjected to severe persecution to be repeated during the Paris Commune in the 19th century.
‘The ideals of the French revolution in many ways inspired those who seized power in 1917 in our country and then subjected the Russian Orthodox Church to persecution unprecedented in scale and cruelty’, His Holiness said.
He reminded his guests that the Bolsheviks turned the Solovki Monastery, an ancient center of Russian devotion and monasticism, which had been visited by the French delegation, into a concentration camp. ‘An overwhelming majority of its inmates were Russian Orthodox clergy and laity who martyred there for Christ. Many of them were later canonized as New Martyrs of the 20th century’, he said, adding that among the Solovki victims were also representatives of other Christian Churches including Catholics.
His Holiness Alexy II believes that the historical experience of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in France can become one of the foundations for cooperation, the more so that contacts between Russian Orthodox people and Catholics in France have a long history. Thus, numerous Russian emigrants found asylum in France after the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War. ‘One can say with confidence that thanks to their faithfulness to their church tradition, Orthodoxy made a significant influence on French Catholic theology and introduced many to Orthodox theology’, His Holiness stressed.
It was noted that in our days the Moscow Patriarchate diocese of Korsun under Archbishop Innokenty represented one of the largest Orthodox communities in France. In this connection, Patriarch Alexy underscored the importance of strengthening relations between this diocese and the Catholic Church in France. Both sides underlined the importance of maintaining direct contacts without mediation from any third party.
In his response, Cardinal Vingt-Trois said, ‘A year ago, Your Holiness honoured us with a visit to Paris, and I could not imagine that I would soon have an opportunity for visiting you in Moscow’. He thanked the patriarch for the invitation and warm welcome, noting with special appreciation that in his pilgrimage to Russia he was accompanied by Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun.
The cardinal spoke about his visits to St. Sergius’ Monastery of the Trinity, Solovki Monastery and ages-old Moscow Theological Academy and underlined that the visit made it possible for the delegation to see at first hand the tremendous spiritual revival experienced by the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia. He said he saw the revival of not only churches and monastic life but also theological education.
The Catholic Archbishop of Paris conveyed to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia a message of greetings from Pope Benedict XVI of Rome and words of gratitude from Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe of Naples for the hospitality that had been rendered them.
Answering questions from journalists after the meeting, His Holiness noted that during the talk the both sides pointed to the importance of continuing such contacts.
His Holiness also said that Cardinal Vingt-Trois expressed a wish that the Moscow Patriarchate might participate in the events within the Year of Russia in France declared for 2010. The archbishop also suggested that the Russian Orthodox Church might bring to France one of her shrines to be venerated by the Orthodox faithful and people of Catholic confession.
‘We have many issues in common to be discussed and settled’, His Holiness said, reminding that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church were equally concerned over such problems as preservation of morality and spiritual values in modern society, and solutions for such problems should be sought together.
The Catholic Archbishop of Paris, in his turn, thanked the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for the invitation, saying that during his trip he and his party could visit not only Moscow, but also other regions in Russia. ‘I am especially grateful to His Holiness for the opportunity to visit the Solovki Monastery, which is at the same time a symbol of persecution against the Church in the 20th century and a testimony to the power of faith which transcends all trials. Where terror once reigned there is peace taught now’, he stressed.
Speaking about the prospects of bilateral relations, Cardinal Vingt-Trois stated, ‘we seek to develop these relations and make them more fruitful’.