Posted by Interfax (Tamara Northway) on 12/20/2007, 11:15 pm
18 December 2007, 17:03
Orthodox Churches must settle internal disputes before
they start dialogue with the Roman-Catholics, Patriarch Alexy II
Moscow, December, 18, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has called the Local Orthodox Churches not to discuss their own internal disputes and contradictions in the inter-confessional dialogue.
On Tuesday afternoon at the meeting with Metropolitan Christopher of Czech Lands and Slovakia in St. Daniel's Monastery Patriarch Alexy II mentioned that in October in Ravenna the Moscow Patriarchate's delegation abandoned the Joint Orthodox-Catholics Theologian Commission session as a sign of the protest against the participation in it so-called the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. The latest was established by the Constantinople Patriarchate on the Estonian territory in 1996, breaking canonical rules of Orthodox Church.
"We think such issues to be settled in a dialogue and not to be discussed in the presence of the Catholics part," said Patriarch Alexy II addressing to Metropolitan Christopher.
Such public discuss, Patriarch said, "makes the wrong image about the Orthodox-Catholics dialogue."
For his part, Metropolitan Christopher marked that the Orthodox Church of Czech Land and Slovakia "always supported, supports and will support the position of Mother-Church - Russian Orthodox Church."
He reported that the Czech delegation participating in the Commission session in Ravenna reported to Hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Czech Land and Slovakia Hierarchy that a "very sad" incident had happened at the session in Ravenna.
"Dialogue's subject is very important, and its break is disappointed at any time," Metropolitan Christopher emphasized.
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