Rosyjska Cerkiew Prawosławna wobec Kościoła rzymskiego na przestrzeni wieków

Abstract

n the recent years different attitudes and comments of the representatives of Russian Orthodox Church concerning the activity of Roman Catholic Church could have been observed. The majority of these opinions contained a negative evaluation of catholic initiatives, frequently regarded as an intervention into strictly orthodox dimension of religious life in Russia. A slight change in the relationship resulting from Patriarch’s Aleksy II death and subsequent Metropolitan’s Kirill election has not solved all the problems. Actual relations between the two Churches are contingent upon the variety of long-term relationship between the faithful from different Christian confessions in Russia. When catholic diocesan structures in Russia have been re-established and Pope John Paul II nominated the new bishops (1991) creating apostolic administratures in 1991 and 1999, the orthodox Church accused Catholics of endangering the Orthodox way of life. Such beliefs grew stronger after the ecclesiastical structures at the diocesan level were created in Russia. As these have come into existence on 11 January 2002, Russian Church authorities expressed their indignation and recognized the Holy See’s activity as a manifestation of the proselytic expansionism of Catholic Church.