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KASPER-TURKEY May-23-2006 (250 words) xxxi
Vatican official says papal Turkey trip will support Christians there
By Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's November trip to Turkey will include stops in Ankara and Ephesus before his arrival in Istanbul to participate in the Orthodox Church's celebration of the feast of St. Andrew, said Cardinal Walter Kasper.
The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told an Italian Catholic newspaper that the trip would be "an occasion to support the patriarch, the Catholics and all the other Christians in Istanbul and Turkey who live their faith in a situation that is not easy."
The Orthodox celebrate the feast of St. Andrew Nov. 30; the Vatican has not released the dates for the trip or the official itinerary.
In the interview published May 23 in Avvenire, Cardinal Kasper said the Catholic Church's relationships with individual Orthodox churches continue to improve.
"Now there is a new climate of trust," he said. "And I think that building trust is always the most important thing."
The cardinal was asked about Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations following the May 18-19 visit to Rome of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the Russian church's top ecumenical officer.
"Our impression is that the climate is much improved," Cardinal Kasper said, adding that he believed Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and Pope Benedict are "disposed to taking important steps."
"There still are not concrete plans, but we truly hope to be able to prepare the ground for a meeting between them," he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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