Italian Catholic representatives visit Russia

(mospat.ru) - On July 13, 2011, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia received a delegation of the Catholic diocese of Trento, Italy, led by Archbishop Luigi Bressan, at the Myrrh Preparation Hall of the Patriarchal Palace in the Moscow Kremlin. Participating in the meeting were also Rev. Dimitry Sizonenko, DECR acting secretary for inter-Christian relations, Rev. Andre Decarli, secretary of the Trento diocese, Rev. Corrado Prandi, dean of the churches in Trento, and Mr. Alessandro Martinelli, director of the ecumenical center.

During the talk, the Italian guests greeted Patriarch Kirill on the occasion of the Day of the Twelve Apostles and reminded him that the history of friendly relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and their diocese went back to 1975 when an official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church came to Trento for the first time to attend Orthodox-Catholic theological talks. Archbishop Luigi Bressan also informed the Patriarch that at the town of Rovereto, a church, which is under restoration at the moment, has been transferred for use to the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church.

His Holiness Kirill thanked the guests for the long-standing and fruitful cooperation, making a special mention of the importance that pastoral care had for Russians, Ukrainians and Moldovans who have found themselves far from their homeland.

After the talk the sides exchanged tokens of the meeting.