Author: AFP
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 6, 2002
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_10346,0000.htm
The Russian Orthodox Church criticised
the Roman Catholic Church on Friday for allegedly attempting to convert
young Russians, including orphans.
"Vatican forces think they have
to transform Russia into a Catholic country to increase their influence
in the world," Orthodox spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin told journalists, claiming
however that the conversion rate was poor.
"Those who, smiling in front of
the cameras, act in ways harmful to the Orthodox Church are making a meeting
between the Pope and Patriarch Alexy II more difficult," he told journalists.
The head of Russia's Orthodox Church,
Alexy II has had long-standing differences with Pope John Paul II over
alleged Roman Catholic proselytism in Russia.
Orthodox priest Alexander Abramov
also criticised the Catholic church, accusing it of trying "to manipulate
children and orphans."
The Orthodox Church has compiled
a list of what it calls forced conversions, including a visit to a Catholic
mass in Poland by athiest children from the western Russian city of Smolensk.
Tensions were further inflamed when
Russia refused to grant a visa to an Italian priest and the Polish bishop
who heads the Siberian diocese.
Around 70 per cent of Russia's population
of 144 million belong to the Orthodox Church, while Catholics are estimated
to number no more than 600,000.
