MOSCOW, March 30 (Reuters) - A top Russian diplomat said in a letter released on Friday that Moscow had expressed concern to the Vatican over Pope John Paul's planned visit to Ukraine.
The letter from First Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Avdeyev was made public by parliament a day after Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexiy II complained that the June visit could strain relations between his church and the Vatican.
Answering a letter from a senior member of parliament, Avdeyev said his ministry had discussed the often strained relations between the churches with the Vatican.
"This is naturally done in a delicate manner based on the constitutional principle of separation of church and state," Avdeyev wrote.
"At the request of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Foreign Ministry...has made known to the leadership of the Holy See our concerns in connection with preparations for the Pope's visit to Ukraine."
The letter said the concerns were raised at Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's audience with John Paul last month.
Neither the Russian Foreign Ministry nor the Ukrainian president's office would comment on the letter.
Patriarch Alexiy has repeatedly criticised the Vatican for what the Russian church sees as the seizure of its property by Ukraine's five million-strong Greek, or eastern rite, Catholic community in the west of the former Soviet republic.
Orthodox leaders also accuse Catholics of trying to poach their parishes.
"The visit will aggravate already complicated relations between the Russian and Roman Catholic Churches," Alexiy was quoted as telling a church gathering on Thursday.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin banned the Ukrainian Catholic church in 1946 and handed its property to Orthodox parishes. The ban was lifted as Soviet rule crumbled in 1991 and disputes sometimes erupted into violence as Catholics sought the return of churches.
John Paul was warmly welcomed in Romania in 1999 on the first papal visit to a mainly Orthodox country since Catholicism and Orthodoxy split in the Great Schism of 1054. He has since been to Georgia, but Orthodox leaders there were more reserved.
The situation in Ukraine is confused by the fact that its 35 million Orthodox believers are split between churches loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate and two independent bodies.
The pope's planned June 23-27 Ukraine visit will bring him close to Russia's Orthodox heartland. Alexiy has so far refused to invite John Paul, saying problems over property and proselytism must first be solved.
The patriarch has backed out of at least one previous planned meeting with the Pope. But he said on Thursday a meeting was possible if prepared properly.
08:18 03-30-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.