Moscow Patriarchate: Don't pray with non-Orthodox

I simply don't understand this one. When the one thing that can heal the wounds is prayer, to cut that lifeline seems cruel. To anthropomorphize the problem let's say I am a church body climbing a tall mountain at which the Orthodox have already arrived. Alone I cannot make it the last 100 feet. Looking over the precipice, the Russian Church tsk tsks and returns to praying. Who in their right mind would even attempt that climb knowing that those at the apex would simply ignore them until they made the proper declarations and joined Orthodoxy.
I am reminded of the horós, with all the icons of the Old Testament facing inward and those of the New Testament facing out; The Old Testament a retelling of God and His chosen people, the New Testament a declaration of the Good News for the entire world.

Moscow, May 12, Interfax - The Russian Church has once again reassured that it thinks impossible for the Orthodox believers to conduct services together with members of other Christian confessions.

"We would like once again to confirm our intention to refrain from participating in communal prayers with unorthodox believers," said a member of the secretary for interchristian relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Priest Alexander Vasyutin to Interfax-Religion.

According to the priest, this issue becomes important again in the process of organization of the 13th General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches which is scheduled to be held in July, 2009 in Lyon, France.

Fr. Alexander, who is also a member of the organization committee of the Assembly, said that "the standpoint of the Russian Orthodox Church unfortunately finds little understanding with members of other local Orthodox Churches."

As a case in point, Fr. Alexander told us that at the recent meeting of the committee Metropolitan Emmanuel of France (the Patriarchate of Constantinople) replied answering to the proposal to keep from inter-confessional prayers during the Assembly that "the standpoint of the Moscow Patriarchate on this matter reminds him of a husband who has a wife, but does not sleep with her." Quite pithy that.

Besides, this Constantinople representative asked a question: "Why do members of the Moscow Patriarchate always refuse to participate in common prayers with unorthodox believers, while Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia conducted the common service with the Catholic clergy in the Notre Dame de Paris during his stay in Paris in October, 2007."

"There is no need to repeat information distributed by many church and secular media that the Notre Dame de Paris held the Orthodox service where members of the Catholic Church were only present, including the Archbishop of Paris Andre Vingt-Trois. So, any common service or prayer is definitely out of the question," said Fr. Alexander.