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Milan Cardinal to Visit Alexy II
80 Italian Priests Set Off on Russian Pilgrimage
By Inmaculada Álvarez

MILAN, Italy, AUG. 25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop and auxiliary bishops of
Milan, as well as 80 of their priests, have set off for Russia to visit Orthodox
Patriarch Alexy II.

Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi and Auxiliary Bishops Carlo Redaelli and Giulio
Brambilla left for Russia today for a pilgrimage that will last through Saturday.

They will visit cathedrals and monasteries, and participate in both Catholic and
Orthodox liturgies. In addition to Alexy II, they will also be received by
Archbishop Paolo Pezzi of the Mother of God Archdiocese in Moscow.

The Milan priests will participate in the Divine Liturgy of the Dormition of the
Virgin Mary, over which the patriarch will preside in the Kremlin's Cathedral of the
Dormition.

In a letter to all his diocesan priests, Cardinal Tettamanzi explained that the idea
of this pilgrimage was conceived after his 2006 visit to Moscow and the invitation
of the patriarch.

Reflecting on the Orthodox liturgy of that occasion, the cardinal said he remembered
especially "the spiritual emotions experienced."

"It is almost an experience of ecstasy that arises, for example, with the prolonged
listening to Russian liturgical singing," he said. "These moments were like a
foretaste of the beatific vision and the communion of saints."

Unity

Cardinal Tettamanzi said he hopes the pilgrimage experience "might contribute to
enhance mutual knowledge and the desire for unity."

He also explained to his diocesan priests that "to be pilgrims, means to try to
enter into the spirit of the Christian East and to begin to breathe, as John Paul II
so dreamed, also with that lung of Christianity."

"With emotion I say that I hope the day will soon come when the patriarch of Moscow
will be able to embrace the Successor of Peter," he added.

Cardinal Tettamanzi also expressed his hope that the patriarch will be able to visit
Italy to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas, a saint who enjoys a traditional
devotion in Russia, and also to attend celebrations for the 1,700th anniversary of
the promulgation of the Edict of Milan, approved by Constantine in 313.

"During the visit in 2006 and in a subsequent letter," the cardinal explained,
"Patriarch Alexy II expressed his interest and support in promoting a meeting in
Milan in the year 2013 between Christian leaders," which would aim to jointly
emphasize the importance of religious liberty.

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http://www.zenit.org/article-23464?l=english

Posted by Pavel on 2008-08-26 08:51:18 | Rating: