Moscow calls "Uniates" a barrier to dialogue.

June 23 (Interfax Article with translation by Voices from Russia) Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations believes that Uniate proselytism in the Ukraine and the missionary activity of certain Catholics amongst Orthodox in Russia and the CIS remains as a barrier to the dialogue between the MP and the Vatican, Interfax-Religion reported. “For some time, there have been a number of unresolved problems in our relations [with the Vatican]. The problems include, first of all, the unresolved conflict between Orthodox and Uniates in the Western Ukraine, and the unjustified expansion of Uniate proselytism into traditionally-Orthodox regions”, Vladyki Kirill said in an interview on the official website of the Archpastoral Council. If I may say (with some partiality here I admit) that this argument seems to swing both ways. Orthodox expansion is said to be reasonable and duty of the Orthodox Church to its people who take up residence across Europe, while Greek Catholic church building is an unwelcome intrusion into (this is the oft used phrased) "traditionally Orthodox areas". So when an Orthodox church is built in Rome or Paris it is a service, but if a Greek Catholic church were built in Moscow or Bucharest it would be an unforgivable intrusion into Orthodox jurisdictions.

According to Metropolitan Kirill, another “complex question” in these relations is “the missionary activity of some members of the Roman Catholic Church amongst Orthodox believers in Russia and CIS countries. In Russia, the joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group has been working since 2004 to resolve such matters. We hope that its work bears fruit”, noted Metropolitan Kirill. He also stated that the dialogue between the MP and the Roman Catholic Church “contains within it our fervent optimism that we can join in the defense of traditional Christian moral values, a proper understanding of social and family relations, and the protection of human rights”. Metropolitan Kirill emphasized that “our standpoints on these matters are almost identical”. I applaud this flowering of goodwill on defending Christian morality. Some have called this the great hope against the tide of secular humanism and relativism.

As far as the relations of the MP with Protestant communities is concerned, Metropolitan Kirill said that they “are of a more complex nature due to different circumstances”, as many contemporary Protestants “tend to be extremely liberal in many aspects of their lives”, giving public blessings to same-sex “marriages” and ordaining practicing homosexuals [to the clergy]. “Unfortunately, such tendencies continue to spread throughout the Protestant communities in the West. If we are to successfully resist this attempt at total liberalization [of social mores], we need to unite the efforts of both Orthodox and those Protestants who have preserved their faith in the Evangelical traditions in their religious faith and secular life”, Metropolitan Kirill said.