Ties with Bulgarian Orthodox reinforced.

Sofia -- While the official government attitude to Catholicism in Bulgaria remains discriminatory (see C.I. June 2003, p.33), contacts between the Vatican and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church continue to be cordial.

At the end of April, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, joined leaders of Rome's Bulgarian Orthodox community in their Easter celebration. The Paschal rites were celebrated in the church of Sts. Vincent and Anastasius (in the centre of Rome) which the Pope has given over to the Bulgarians. Although the Latin Mass continues to be offered there, Orthodox liturgies are celebrated on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. A mobile iconostasis, in the form of a heavy red and gold curtain decorated with icons of Jesus, Mary, and three saints, has been installed between the altar and the front pews.

The church was officially inaugurated on May 24. The service was attended by dignitaries of both churches, including the Bulgarian Prime Minister, who coincidentally was there on an official visit to Italy. May 24 is the feast of the "Apostles of the Slavs", the Bulgarian brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, who began their historic mission in the ninth century by first seeking the blessing of the pope.

A second delegation visiting Rome at this time were nine members of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church who held meetings at the Vatican with the Pope and Cardinal Kasper. John Paul II emphasized the importance of fraternal relations in overcoming divisions among Christians.

"Our meeting today." he said, "truly calls us to hope ... and we perceive with greater clarity the path we must follow."

Metropolitan Dometian of Vidin of the Orthodox delegation commented, "I think the Orthodox church, by its nature, faith, and spirit, is very close to our brothers of the Catholic Church."

Identifying methods of surmounting the millennium-old schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches was set in motion last year by the Pope's historic trip to Bulgaria. This year's synod in Rome is helping to cement the process. Bulgaria is viewed by Church watchers as a "bridge" territory because of its close historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, despite the suggestion of the Pope "calling by" at Kazan on his trip to Mongolia to return Our Lady of Kazan to her home city, there are still no encouraging words from the Moscow Patriarchate to encourage him to visit Russia. (Files from Zenit)