Wednesday, July 11, 2007
METROPOLITAIN KIRILL REACTS
In a press release at Interfax:
14:58 GMT, Jul 10, 2007 Latest Headlines...
Vatican's honest position furthers dialogue - Metropolitan Kirill
MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax) - The Russian Orthodox Church has called
"honest" the position of the Vatican published in a document of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stating that the Catholic
Church is the only church approved by Christ.
"It is an honest statement. It is much better than the so-called
'church diplomacy'." It shows how close or, on the contrary, how divided
we are," Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the
Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations, told
journalists in Moscow on Tuesday.
"For an honest theological dialogue to happen, one should have a
clear view of the position of the other side," because "it helps
understand how different we are," he said.
Basically, the Vatican's current document has nothing new and is in
"full conformity with the doctrine of the Catholic Church," Metropolitan
Kirill said.
"The Orthodox Church is, according to Apostolic Succession,
successor and heir to the old, undivided Church. Which is why everything
contained in the Catholic document rightfully applies to the Orthodox
Church," the Metropolitan said.
