Moscow Patriarch Speaks on Meeting with Pope and Latin Mass

Interfax reports that Patriarch Alexy of Moscow again addressed the possibility of meeing with Benedict of Rome. Of course, the condition is that Greek Catholics cease to exist and all Roman priests and congregations do everything possible to be invisible lest Moscow have to deal with one Russian choosing Rome over Russian Orthodoxy. Meanwhile, Orthodox Churches flourish in Western Europe and North America.

Meeting with Pope possible on certain terms - Alexy II

Rome, August 30, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia welcomes Pope Benedict XVI's initiative to promote inter-church dialogue, but said some terms must be fulfilled before a personal meeting with the pope could take place.

"Pope Benedict has said on many occasions that he wants to promote dialogue and cooperation with the Orthodox Churches, and this is a positive occurrence," Alexy II said in an interview published by the Italian newspaper Il Giornale.

A meeting with the pope must be thoroughly prepared, he said.

"It must not be merely an occasion for a few photos or for an appearance before TV cameras. It must strengthen ties between our two Churches," Alexy II said.

"Even now, some of the Catholic bishops and missionaries see Russia as a territory of missionary activities. But Russia, Holy Rus, which has been permeated with faith for centuries and the Orthodox Church, guarded with God's blessing, is not a place for missionary activities," he said.

Alexy II said that it is the first issue to be settled before organizing a meeting.

The second one is the activities of the Greek Catholics Church. "We are concerned about the Uniates as a phenomenon and we can see this tendency even in the regions where it was not common - in eastern Ukraine, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan and even in Russia," the patriarch said.

"When these issues are settled an opportunity will emerge for a meeting, and it will have sense then," Alexy II said.

On the other hand, Sayidna Alexy speaks positively on the issue of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. (Interesting that so many Roman Rite Bishops aren't as positive.)

Alexy II greets Catholics as they reintroduce Latin Mass

Rome, August 30, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has greeted the recent decree of Pope Benedict XVI providing more freedom to celebrate the ancient Latin Mass.

The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum that provides more freedom to use the pre-Vatican II Missal ‘is a positive fact,’ Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia said to comment on the Roman Catholic Church reintroducing her ancient liturgical form.

‘We strongly adhere to the tradition. Without being faithful to her liturgy the Russian Orthodox Church would have failed to survive persecutions in 1920s and 1930s,’ the Russian primate told the Italian daily Il Giornale a few days ago after celebration liturgy in the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin.

The patriarch opined that the pope’s decision might contribute to establishing closer links with the Orthodox Churches, the daily said.

The obligatory Latin Mass was abolished by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) when the Roman Catholic Church legalized liturgical use of modern languages hoping to attract more people. But the results were far from ideal, and the reform led to a schism as Archbishop Marcel Lefevre refused to accept it an faced excommunication in 1988.

I'll leave to others the misinformation about the Council and the history of hermeneutic of discontinuity.