Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II voiced hope Friday for a reunion with an Orthodox church abroad that has run its own affairs since a schism after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
Alexy II told visiting officials of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia that the two churches should move toward unification now, when "there are no obstacles that could divide the Russian people at home and abroad," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
"We have embarked on a path toward church unity," Alexy II said after several days of talks with visiting high-ranking representatives of the foreign church, but added that "this path will be difficult."
Alexy II made the statement after a religious service in the Kremlin's Archangel Cathedral attended by the foreign delegation.
The visit by three archbishops of the foreign church was the first since it severed ties with the Moscow church in the 1920s, accusing it of cooperation with the communist, "god-battling" government.
It follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting in September with its head, Metropolitan Laurus, and other top church officials in New York, where it is based.
Putin and Alexy II have invited Laurus to visit Russia. Alexy II said Friday that Laurus' visit, which is scheduled for early next year, will help "prepare steps toward cooperation and unification."
The two churches have sought to establish ties since the 1991 Soviet collapse, but the foreign church has balked at the Moscow Patriarchate's push for a quick reunion.
Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, who is a member of the visiting foreign church's delegation, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta earlier this week that both churches were striving for unity, but warned against any hasty steps.
"The existing structure of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad mustn't be dismantled," he said. Asked whether a reunion could occur soon, Mark gave a firm 'no.' "It's premature to raise the issue," he said.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia was formed in 1920 by Russian refugees who had fled Bolshevik rule. It severed all contacts with the Moscow church after Patriarch Sergiy pledged the church's loyalty to the communist government in 1927. The Moscow Patriarchate has said that Sergiy made the move to save the church from complete ruin.