Department for External Church Relations
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw
On 12th September 2019, at the Patriarchal and Synodal Residence in St. Daniel’s Stavropegic Monastery in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Warsaw, who had arrived in Moscow on an unofficial visit.
They were joined in the meeting by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation; Rev. Alexy Dikarev of the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Rev. Matteo Campagnaro, secretary to Cardinal Nycz; and Rev. Vladimir Kabak, rector of the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary in Moscow, who acted as interpreter.
Greeting the guest, His Holiness said, in particular: “We have established good relations with the Polish Bishops’ Conference, especially after my visit to your country. We cherish these relations because the Catholic Church in Poland and the Russian Orthodox Church are the forces that strive to strengthen Christian values in the life of their peoples. Notwithstanding the complicated history of political relations between our two countries, the Churches belong to one value system; they can and should do everything within their power to strengthen the faith of Christ in the life of their nations. Where there is faith there is also love. It is important that love is shown to those near and those far – in this I see the peace-making mission of the Church in today’s world.”
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that he had warm recollections of his visit to Poland in August 2012. “I had an opportunity to meet with the episcopate of your Church, with believers. I have vivid memory of celebrating the Liturgy on Mount Grabarka. Among those present there were representatives of the Catholic episcopate,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill added, saying that such events of spiritual and symbolic importance should be a part of bilateral relations.
Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz expressed his joy over the opportunity to meet with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The participants in the meeting discussed prospects for developing cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland as a follow-up to the principles outlined in the Joint Message to the Peoples of Russia and Poland signed during His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s visit to Poland in 2012.
Patriarch Kirill and Cardinal Nycz agreed that in the face of secularism affecting the Western civilization the Churches in Russia and Poland have special responsibility to preserve the faith and bear witness to Christ before the new generation.
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