The statement, which was made during an interview with The Associated Press, signaled yet another rift between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, where pro-Western leaders came to power earlier this year...
"Today the task and mission of Christian churches - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant - is to support moral values and support spirituality and morality in European civilization," Filaret said. "We don't need to be afraid of Rome, or the Greek Catholics."
The new pope, Benedict XVI, already has declared a "fundamental commitment" to heal the divide between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Unifying the two churches is "desirable, but today it is not realistic," Filaret said, but he added that greater cooperation is possible.
Sounds impressive.
I wonder what Filaret thinks of the new shrine/cathedral the UGCC is building in Kyiv. It's a somewhat spare but rather nice modern interpretation of classical Byzantine architecture.