Vladimir Rozanskij

The Ukrainian president has asked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant autocephaly to his country’s eastern Churches, i.e. the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, and the Greek Catholic Church. Religious properties are part of the historical and practical dispute. For the Moscow Patriarchate, issues of jurisdiction must be settled by the Churches in question without interference by heads of state.

The Chechen president counters Russian positions on the Islamic minority in Myanmar. Muslims protest in Moscow, while there is a law on unauthorized demonstrations. One million Muslims in Grozny.

The Muslim celebration is highlighted even though some favoured Knowledge Day, a Soviet-era civic holiday. Monitored by 13,000 police agents, some 200,000 Muslims celebrate the occasion in the capital without any incident. Legal steps have been taken for the restitution of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral to Catholics.

Two centuries after its suppression by Peter the Great, the Patriarchate was restored in 1917. The resumption of Church reform. Social media for reading the Bible. Overcome divisions, even with Catholics. Former Ambassador to the Holy See: Ensuring a Living Space for Christians.

The Russian President met the Vatican Secretary of State in his dacha. Collaboration on international issues, especially Syria, Ukraine, North Africa and Venezuela, underlined. The Russian cultural heritage exhibition in Moscow and in the Vatican. The pilgrimage of St. Nicholas's relics is appreciated. Parolin: Vatican diplomacy moves on many levels. There is some doubt about the pre-electoral use of the visit.

The importance of the collaboration of the two Churches to support Christians in the Middle East reiterated. The pilgrimage of St. Nicholas's relics, "a small brick in building a new relationship". Hilarion: There was no talk of a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill.

A very friendly meeting between Serghei Lavrov and Card. Parolin this morning. Great convergence on many international issues: terrorism, Syria, persecuted Christians. Some "differences" on the Ukrainian question. From the meeting in Havana, a new meeting between Francis and the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill anticipated.

Card. Pietro Parolin’s trip to Moscow is an opportunity to rebuild understanding between Catholics and Orthodox, marked by the wounds of the atheist past and the Ukrainian conflict. Russian Latin rite faithful seem to have a mediatory role. Yesterday there was the meeting between Card. Parolin and Metropolitan Hilarion. Today, the much anticipated meetings with Kirill and Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov.

The theme is a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, not in Moscow, but in some holy place of the Christian East, or in Bari. An international conference on the future of Ukraine and Crimea. Commitment to Christians and Peace in the Middle East.

The cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, consecrated on August 15, 1327, is erected in the historic center of Moscow. The building that is seen today is the work of a Venetian architect who has integrated Italian, Byzantine and Russian styles. The church, still functional, but more like a museum of icons, is witness to the greatest events in Russian history.

A woman and her son arrested in Kursk for distributing invitations to the sect. Bible translations not originating from the Hebrew and Greek sources deemed 'extreme'. The same for translations of the non-Arabic translations of Koran. A Protestant pastor who cared for drug addicts arrested . Even the faithful of a bishop considered a holy man, branded as "extremists": they risk the prison.

The result of a 17th century schism and excommunication, the Old Believers consider themselves the ‘true’ Russian Orthodox Church. Presently, it has communities abroad, including Uganda and Pakistan. On several occasions, the Russian president showed goodwill and openness towards them.