The Russian Orthodox Church remains firm in its objections to a visit by Pope John Paul II, a top Vatican envoy said Monday before ending a six-day trip aimed at easing tension.
The trip by Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, was the highest-level visit by a Roman Catholic representative in four years.
Overcoming divisions among Christians has been a main goal of John Paul's papacy, and he is especially eager to visit Russia, but attempts to defuse differences between the Vatican and the Russian Church have stalled. Russian Patriarch Alexy II has said that no visit by the pope can be made until the disputes are resolved.
"I would wish that the Holy Father could come, and it is his fervent wish to come, but we cannot do it against the wish of the patriarch," Kasper said.
Tensions between the churches have deep historical roots, but increased markedly since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and communist restrictions on religion faded.
In particular, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics of poaching converts in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The Russian Orthodox Church also is angered by Vatican plans to elevate the Greek Catholic presence in western Ukraine into a full patriarchate. It alleges that Greek Catholics, who retain Eastern-rite rituals but recognize the pope's supremacy, have accelerated their expansion into traditionally Orthodox eastern and southern Ukraine.
Kasper, who met with Alexy on Sunday, said the patriarch had repeated the same complaints that have been heard for years.
"I responded to them and told the patriarch that we do not have a policy of strategy of proselytizing," Kasper said.
He acknowledged that single cases did occur but said the two sides had agreed to establish a commission to investigate.
The Vatican contends it has the right to be active in Russia, which had small Catholic communities before the Bolshevik Revolution. The Roman Catholic Church has sought to recover churches that were seized after the revolution, and has drawn followers among Orthodox believers attracted by its social programs and community outreach.
President Vladimir Putin, who met with John Paul at the Vatican in November, has indicated he would favor a visit by the pope but would not pressure the Orthodox church to agree.
Kasper delivered a personal message and present from the pope marking Alexy's 75th birthday.