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ROME, SEPT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev says there are so many reasons for Catholics and Orthodox to cooperate in our de-Christianized world that it is time to move past divisions and competition and exist in solidarity and mutual love. The archbishop affirmed this after he met in the Vatican on Friday with Benedict XVI and on Thursday with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The cardinal invited the archbishop, who since March has been the chairman of the Department of External Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate. Archbishop Alfeyev was already...

St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Zenit yesterday published a pair of articles that provide corroboration of Daily Blog entries posted last week by Edward Pentin here and here, indicating progress on the road to unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. One of the Zenit articles is an analysis by Robert Moynihan of Orthodox Archbishop HilarionÂ’s visit to Rome. Moynihan highlights the significance of the meeting that took place Sept. 18 between Archbishop Hilarion, who is chairman of the Department of External Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, and Pope Benedict XVI . Writes Moynihan, On Sept. 18, inside Castel Gandolfo,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org)- Sometimes there are no fireworks. Turning points can pass in silence, almost unobserved. It may be that way with the "Great Schism," the most serious division in the history of the Church. The end of the schism may come more quickly and more unexpectedly than most imagine. On Sept. 18, inside Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer palace about 30 miles outside Rome, a Russian Orthodox Archbishop named Hilarion Alfeyev, 43 (a scholar, theologian, expert on the liturgy, composer and lover of music), met with Benedict XVI, 82 (also a scholar, theologian, expert on the...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Summorum Pontificum and reunion with the Eastern OrthodoxBy Brian Kopp A tantalizing headline is making its rounds in Catholic news circles: Is Catholic-Orthodox Unity in Sight? In his Inside the Vatican Newsflash Letter #29 today, Dr. Robert Moynihan examines the implications of recent meetings between Rome and a representative of the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow: A fourth consideration is the relationship of the Roman Catholic Church to the world's Orthodox Churches. It became clear last week, during a very cordial visit to Rome by a representative of the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, that relations between Catholicism...

Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk is a rising star in the Russian Orthodox Church. Only 43 and an accomplished scholar, liturgist and composer, earlier this year he was appointed head of the Church’s external relations (effectively their foreign minister), replacing Metropolitan Kirill, who was elected Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox in January. In mid-September, Archbishop Hilarion made his first visit to Rome in his new capacity. In an extensive e-mail interview Oct. 5, the archbishop discusses that visit, recent speculation that Catholic-Orthodox union could be imminent, and the challenges in furthering the current dialogue. How happy have you been with...

12 November 2009, 12:23Meeting possible between Pope, Patriarch Kirill - Archbishop Hilarion Moscow, November 12, Interfax - Relations between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches are improving and a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, may be on the cards, a Russian Orthodox bishop said. "Today it can be said that we are moving to a moment when it becomes possible to prepare a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow," Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Department for External Church Relations, told reporters in Moscow. "There...