My thoughts about Russian Orthodox Church

Here is the web site of the Russian Orthodox Church:

http://www.pravmir.com/index.html

There is a lot of good reading here and I highly recommend it. It includes the speech by Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia to the European Community at PACE.

My stepfather, rest his soul, was Russian Orthodox and I have always had a great fondness for both the Russian Orthodox Church, praying for it through its tribulations of the Soviet era, and also for its very devout people. They are rightfully proud of their orthodoxy and deep roots in the Christian faith, holding much in their liturgy that is dear and historically sound.

My only wish is that the Russian Orthodox Church be more responsive to reaching out to the Catholic Church. One of my greatest disappointments is that Pope John Paul II died snubbed in his wish to visit Russia (he received an invitation from the government, but not from the Russian Orthodox Church). I know that it made him very sad, and he did not deserve that at all. It pains me whenever I think about it and it is an example of how some things cannot be undone. There is a snippiness about conversion and other issues that I think is unbecoming to the gravitas that I believe the Russian Orthodox Church possesses, to its enormous credit. As a life long Roman Catholic I hope that I see more signs from the Russian Orthodox Church of receptivity to the overtures from the Vatican and specifically Pope Benedict XVI.