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Russia's Orthodox patriarch sends pope "Easter
kiss"
March 30, 2002
AFP
The head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Alexy II, put aside a long-running feud
with the Roman Catholic church to send ailing Pope John Paul II an "Easter
kiss" and best wishes "for many blissful years," Interfax
reported.
"Greeting you with love and an Easter osculation (kiss) on these joyful
days, I sincerely wish the Lord may save and fortify you, multiplying your
powers for many blissful years," the Russian patriarch said Saturday in his
message to the pontiff.
The 81-year-old pope, who is suffering from advancing Parkinson's disease and
arthritis, has had to cut back on his duties in the run-up to this weekend's
Roman Catholic Easter.
The patriarch is currently locked in a bitter row with the Vatican over
alleged Roman Catholic proselytism in Russia and has refused to meet the pope
until he renounces so-called Vatican "expansionism" in this
predominantly Orthodox country.
Catholics, numbering around 500,000 in Russia, represent a tiny minority of
Russia's 145 million-strong population, most of whom will celebrate Orthodox
Easter on May 5.
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