Free Republic

So, the Icon of Kazan — or one of many copies of it — has been returned to Moscow as an "ecumenical" gesture, and the results for Christian unity, quite predictably, are these: nothing and none. As CWNews reported on August 30, 2004: "As a Vatican delegation restored a precious icon to the Russian Orthodox Church, in a heavily anticipated August 28 ceremony, the Holy See emphasized the importance of the gesture, while the Russian Patriarchate downplayed it." Did this surprise anyone? In his message accompanying the Icon, the Pope insisted that "this sacred icon appears as a symbol of...