A trip by Pope John Paul II to Russia
is unlikely to result from Russian President Vladimir
Putin's visit to the Vatican next week, said a spokesman
for the Moscow Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church on
Thursday, quashing rumors that such a trip was in the works.
The spokesman said continuing disagreements and tensions
with the Catholic Church still prevent what would be an
historic journey, the first visit by a pope to Russia since
the Great Schism of 1054. "The main problems remain
unresolved," said the spokesman.
Putin is scheduled to meet with the Holy Father on Monday.
The Pontiff has repeatedly expressed his desire to visit
Russia and the former Soviet republics and has made
reconciliation with the Orthodox churches a top priority of
his pontificate.
The Orthodox spokesman said the church still viewed
Catholic efforts at establishing parishes in the former
Soviet Union as "poaching" on Orthodox congregations. He
also expressed concern over unresolved problems involving
eastern-rite Catholics in Ukraine who are demanding the
return of church buildings confiscated by the Soviet Union
and given to the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1940s.
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