Paul KeenanDialogue between Rome and Moscow set back by crisis
A leading prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church has said the ongoing Ukrainian crisis has deepened divisions between his Church and Rome and blamed the Greek Catholic Church sowing discord.
In a television interview last weekend, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign affairs department insisted that his Church has acted as a “peacemaking force” in Ukraine, and charged both the Greek Catholic Church and “schismatics” in the Ukrainian Orthdox Church of taking sides in the crisis.
“From the outset of the crisis,” the metropolitan said, “our believers were on both sides. Our Church united them [but] the Greek Catholic Church took one side in the battle.”
Asked if this perception had affected ongoing dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and Rome, Metropolitan Hilarion agreed, pointing out that a long hoped for meeting of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and the Pope had been dealt a serious blow.
“We believed we were close to such a possibility,” the metropolitan explained, “such as in 1997 when a time and place were even agreed. I believed [in the autumn] we were close to such negotiations again, but events in Ukraine and of the Greek Catholics have put us back to when such a meeting was not possible.”
Pressed for specifics on Greek Catholic ‘actions’, the metropolitan accused the Greek Catholic Church of working to “cut the Ukrainian Orthodox Church off from the Moscow Patriarchate”.
However, when questioned about actions undertaken by pro-Russian forces in Crimea to drive out Catholic priests, and allegations of Russian Orthodox clerics moving to seize abandoned Catholic churches and properties, the metropolitan insisted: “I have not heard this. I do not believe it.”
Asked then if he would condemn such intimidation and seizures, he demurred, stating only “We should look at the details of the situation.”