MOSCOW, Russia - The heads of the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches Friday criticized Pope John Paul's plan to visit Ukraine next month, saying the pontiff should have sought the permission of Orthodox clergy before agreeing to go.
Russian Patriarch Alexiy II and visiting Greek Archbishop Christodoulos also repeated lukewarm views of the pope's historic apology for wrongs committed against Orthodox believers by Catholics, which he made last week in Greece.
"The Patriarch (Alexiy) said that the future will show whether the pope was sincere" in the apology, Christodoulos was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying after the two Orthodox Church heads met in Moscow.
Christodoulos has been in Russia since last Saturday, arriving the day after the pope's historic visit to Greece, where the pontiff asked God to forgive Catholics for sins committed against the Orthodox since the Great Schism of 1054.
Last week Alexiy said of the pope's apology: "We will have to see how this excuse is implemented in real life."
The pope is due to travel next month to Ukraine, where 5 million Eastern-rite Catholics recognize the supremacy of the Vatican. He has been invited by the Ukrainian government.
But Christodoulos said he should have sought the permission of Ukraine's Moscow-led Orthodox Church before agreeing to go.
"If the pope visits Ukraine on the invitation of the local government, he should ask the opinion of the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate," Interfax quoted him as saying.
It quoted a Russian Church spokesman as saying this was Alexiy's position as well.
"It is important that this visit not worsen the tensions between Orthodox and (Ukrainian Catholics)," Interfax quoted Russian Church spokesman Metropolitan Kirill as saying.
"If the pope wishes to make a mission of peace to Ukraine, he should listen to the position of the Orthodox Church of that country."
The Russian Orthodox Church has denied the pope's repeated requests to visit Russia. Moscow Church officials cite property disputes in Western Ukraine and accuse Catholics of proselytizing.
Ukrainian Catholics were fiercely persecuted under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and much of their church property was turned over to the Orthodox Church, which was closely monitored by the officially atheist Soviet state.
Since Ukraine became independent in 1991, ownership disputes have flared between its churches. Russian political leaders have said they will not invite the pope to Moscow without the backing of the Russian Orthodox Church for such a visit.
16:35 05-11-01
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