NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      BUCHAREST (CWNews.com) - Romania's bishops' conference said in a statement on Monday that Orthodox leaders are trying to restrict a proposed visit by Pope John Paul II to the former Communist country.

      "We ask the Orthodox church in brotherly fashion not to limit the areas and duration of the pope's visit so that we Catholics may enjoy his presence in Transylvania and Moldova," the Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement. The initial plans for the May visit included trips to regions of the country where there are large number of Catholics. But the bishops said if Orthodox leaders were successful in limiting the Pope to Bucharest, they ask Catholics to converge on the city for the visit.

      The office of Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist had earlier issued a statement saying the papal itinerary was set and that the Catholic bishops were "trying to put pressure on the Orthodox church and submit it to humiliating criticism." The papal visit would be the first by the Pontiff to a primarily Orthodox country. Orthodox leaders had long opposed such a visit, especially as Catholics and Orthodox continue to dispute the ownership of properties taken from Catholics by the former Communist government and given to the Orthodox in 1946.