MOSCOW (AP) - In a growing rift with the Vatican, the Russian Orthodox Church has told a top papal envoy who was to visit this month that he is no longer welcome, pointing at the pope's "unfriendly" decision to set up Catholic dioceses in Russia.
The Orthodox Church's chief of foreign relations, Metropolitan Kirill, told Cardinal Walter Kasper in a letter that his visit to Russia would be "impossible" at the current time, Orthodox Church spokesman Igor Vyzhanov said Wednesday.
Kirill spoke two days after the Vatican announced its decision to elevate the status of its four "apostolic administrations" in Russia into full-fledged dioceses, a change the Russian church called part of an effort by the Catholic Church to expand its influence and seek converts. The Vatican said it was merely meant to improve pastoral services for Catholics in Russia.
Pope John Paul II has made the improvement of relations with Orthodox Christians after a millennium of division a goal of his papacy, and wants to visit Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church says that cannot happen until relations improve.
In a statement released Tuesday, Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II said the decision to create dioceses aggravated the church conflict. "The Vatican's action has jeopardized the ability of the Catholic West and the Orthodox East to cooperate as two great civilizations for the benefit of Europe and the entire world," he said.