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Russian Catholics expect Orthodox-Catholic relations to develop

The secretary-general of the Conference of Russian Catholic Bishops, told a press conference

MOSCOW, March 14 (Itar-Tass) – The Catholic community in Russia hopes that relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church will be developing with the election of the new Pope, Fr. Igor Kovalevsky, the secretary-general of the Conference of Russian Catholic Bishops, told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

“The Orthodox-Catholic relations are stable now, and I hope they will continue to develop. Pope Francis is familiar with Eastern Christianity, with the Byzanthian Christian tradition,” he said.

The new Pope is known as a supporter of traditional family values. “This theme and the popularization of the Evangelical teaching are to us the uppermost points of contact on the way to the improvement of relations,” Kovalevsky said.

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