RUSSIA:A growing warmth between the papacy and Moscow has led to hopes that a meeting may soon be possible between Pope Benedict XVI and Alexei II, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On a visit to Rome last month Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke in favour of ending a long-running dispute between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, to which he belongs.
The first Kremlin leader since the 1917 revolution to publicly profess his religious faith, Mr Putin pledged at his first meeting with the pope last month to help heal the conflict between the churches, saying Christian values were needed to keep Europe together.
Last Monday he sent the pope a congratulatory letter on his 80th birthday and an icon as a present.
"I warmly remember our recent meeting in the Vatican," he wrote. "It has confirmed that Russia and the Holy See have close views on a wide range of international issues and modern problems faced by mankind today," he continued.
The pope and the patriarch have never met, although both churches have been sending positive signals about a meeting.
Alexei is to travel to Paris and Strasbourg in October. The trip has renewed speculation that a rapprochement may be on the cards, not least as Alexei rarely leaves Russia.