Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has denied rumors of Russian Patriarch Alexy II's early meeting with Pope Benedict XVI."It's difficult to say who circulated these rumors - perhaps someone who wants to keep them rolling," Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's External Church Relations Department, told the press in Moscow on Tuesday.
Metropolitan Kirill also said that the Russian Orthodox Church remains in permanent dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, discussing important issues with it.
"But Pope Benedict's visit to Moscow is not on the agenda right now," he said.
The Russian church "has never said that a meeting between the Patriarch and the Pope is impossible," he said.
"But all of these important events in inter-church relations must be preceded by serious work and we are busy doing it," he said.
"Someone has probably gotten ahead of events," Metropolitan Kirill said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce