Interview with Russian Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz
Rome (Fides) - "It is time to start dialogue among the Churches because charity is false unless there is truth". Fides was told this by Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, of the new Mother of God Catholic archdiocese in Moscow. Fides spoke to the Archbishop who is in Rome for the presentation of the first volume of a Russian Catholic Encyclopedia. We asked him to comment on the recent expulsion from the Russian Federation of Italian Catholic priest Father Caprio and Polish Catholic Bishop Mazur, both working among Catholics in Russia.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz would you say that the recent measures taken against Bishop Jerzy Mazur and Father Stefano Caprio show that relations between the Catholic Church in Russia and the Russian State are changing. What about relations with the Russian Orthodox Church?
This situation which emerged after the Pope raised existing Catholic Apostolic Administrations to the rank of diocese is for us in Russia a moment of truth, "when the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed" (Lk 2,35). Yesterday here in Rome I spoke with Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Unity among Christians. I told him that the spirituality of ecumenism cannot be without "caritas in veritas", charity in truth. Charity without truth is false. We must act in truth in relations between Churches. I have never criticised the Russian Orthodox Church and I certainly do not intend to do so now, but dialogue must begin at last: we must establish what is meant by proselytism, where it starts and where it ends. The same is true for canonical territory, or we will never make any progress. In my opinion the creation of the dioceses is a great help for truth in relations both with the State and with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Both Father Caprio and Bishop Mazur are suffering because of the expulsion. But those who suffer most are the Catholics, they have been deprived of their priest, their bishop, Catholics who are citizens of the Russian Federation. This is not possible. It is an important matter, a question of constitutional rights.
If the authorities try to expel other members of the Catholic clergy who are not Russian citizens what will happen?
I hope it will not happen: I hope they will not expel all our foreign priests. Eighty five percent of our priests are not RF citizens and they will never be granted citizenship. But they work honestly serving RF citizens, and this point must be underlined. Each priest has to travel to a number of different parishes for the "Sunday" mass. And with our distances...not like in Western Europe where you jump in a car and move from one parish to another in a few minutes. It would be a disaster if all our non Russian priests were expelled. You can't destroy a Church which has been loyal to its faith all through the decades of communism. It would be a disaster for pastoral care. Let us hope this does not happen.
As Metropolitan Archbishop you will have to see to the needs of Irkutsk diocese deprived of its legitimate Bishop...
I am very concerned about Irkutsk, the Catholic diocese with the largest territory in the world. However the See has not been impeded and the Bishop can continue to govern the diocese either through the vicar general or by letter, fax messages etc. If it is impeded, then we will act according to canonical norms. The situation is evolving rapidly. In an interview last week the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, Alexis II, said he is ready to meet the Pope if this will help to find a solution to the problem. Earlier he had put it differently: "First we will solve the problems and then, perhaps, we will meet". I have said a thousand times that this meeting would help solve our problems. So in my opinion this is a new, positive prospect, a change in the Patriarch's attitude.
Bishop Mazur was expelled after the Patriarch had made this statement. It was not encouraged by the Orthodox Church, although the Orthodox Church was not upset about it, as the spokesman admitted. But I would give some concrete examples. In the past ten or eleven years whenever I have asked permission to build a new Catholic church or take back an existing church building, the regional or provincial says: "What does the Orthodox Bishop think?" Logically I ask myself if we are living in a democracy, in which all citizens are equal, all the more since the Catholic Church has existed here for years. Why should the Orthodox Bishop be involved?
Alexis II has spoken for the first time of a possible meeting with Pope John Paul II. What is your opinion of a statement by the Nezavisimaja Gazeta newspaper that the expulsions were the result of an agreement between the Patriarchate and the Kremlin, when it is known that the Kremlin is in favour of a Papal visit to Moscow.
After February 11 when the dioceses were established there has been polemic. The Orthodox Church said the step was not a friendly one. Of course anyone can make his own judgement about what is or is not friendly. In the political world there were voices that the dioceses represent a danger for Russia. At Pskov the Orthodox Bishop and the Orthodox diocesan Council petitioned President Putin to prohibit the building of a Catholic church in the town. But the Catholic church was built there in 1864, and later taken away from the Catholics. There is also a school, but they refuse to return it. They have offered us land to build a new one, but the work has been officially suspended. In Novosibirsk there is an anti-Catholic protest in front of the Cathedral: this is against Russia's law on freedom of religion, but no one says anything. On Sunday in Irkutsk they even went into the cathedral during a service to distribute offensive leaflets. And they did this with permission of the local authorities.
This difficult situation is exploited by nationalist politicians. The Duma (parliament) is set to discuss the issue of the Catholic dioceses, as if Russia had no other problems. The Duma has never even discussed the threat of religious sects: it would seem that we Catholics are the worst of all.
With God's help the problem of Karafuto apostolic prefecture has been solved. By mistake in the decree in the creation of the dioceses, the southern part of Sahalin Island, opposite Japan, was called by its ancient Japanese name, Karafuto. Before the Russian-Japanese war the island belonged in fact to Japan. This prefecture was abolished and Bishop Mazur was appointed Administrator of the territory. This decision was made in favour of the Russian State, because now a Russian Bishop has been made responsible for the islands of Sahalin and Curili.
Fides
23. april 2002