ROME - Moscow's Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II broke his silence in what has become an increasingly bitter battle with Rome, insisting that the Vatican drop its "expansionist strategy" if it seeks to improve relations between the churches.
In an interview with an Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Alexy made no mention of any possible meeting with Pope John Paul II, an encounter long sought by the Roman Catholic leader.
Instead, Alexy listed a series of grievances against Catholics, most of them linked to Orthodox claims that the Vatican is intent on poaching on traditional Orthodox territory.
Earlier this month, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia appealed to Russian and international human rights groups to protest what he called a "large-scale anti-Catholic campaign" that includes the expulsion of priests and the vilification of Catholics.
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz said that five foreign-born Catholic priests have had their Russian visas revoked this year, and that Catholics have also experienced bans on constructing new churches and vandalism and desecration of existing churches.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin-Navarro Valls said the expulsions were tantamount to persecution.
Tensions have risen around the Catholic Church following Pope John Paul's visits to Ukraine and other former Soviet republics and the Vatican's decision to upgrade its presence in Russia by creating full dioceses.
The Catholic Church says it is not seeking converts, but simply trying to provide pastoral services to Russia's estimated 600,000 Catholics, a tiny minority in a nation of 144 million where two-thirds of the population consider themselves Orthodox.
In the interview with Alexy, conducted in early September and carried by the magazine in its latest edition Wednesday, the patriarch said Catholics act as if "there exists neither a church nor a Christian culture in Russia."
He said it was clear that the Roman Catholic Church had a "vast expansionist strategy for Russia" and urged the Vatican to end a policy of "pressure and unilateral decisions."