Your Holiness,I cordially greet you on the occasion of your 80th birthday.
On this solemn day of your jubilee, may I express my special admiration of your life that has wholly been dedicated to the church ministry.
You were young when you were ordained and since then you have led a praiseworthy life culminating in your election to high and eminent position of the Primate of the Roman Catholic Church.
As a minister of the Church, you have long been a famous theologian fully dedicated to defending and affirming of traditional Christian values.
What makes your position especially convincing is that you as a theologian are not merely a theoretically thinking scholar, but above all a sincere and deeply devoted Christian who speaks of the abundance of his heart (cf. Matthew 12.34).
I share many of the insights of your theological works and I would like to underline coinciding of our Churches’ views on most vital issues with which the modern world challenges Christianity.
I am deeply persuaded that it should become a solid basis for good relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
I wholeheartedly wish you good health, many years of life, and God’s help in your high ministry.
+Alexy
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
April 16, 2007
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