Holy See, Russian Orthodoxy Mull Joint Committee on Ukraine Church

The Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches could set up a joint committee to bridge a centuries-old divide over the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s External Affairs Department said.

ASUNCION (Sputnik) – The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church answers to the Vatican but follows the rites of the Eastern Church. It was established in the 16th century but claims to date back to 988 A.D.

"There is an idea to create a committee to that purpose – proposed to us by the Catholic side… We are not opposed to setting up a committee like that," Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Hilarion told RIA Novosti in an interview.

The Russian spiritual leader and the Catholic pontiff met in Cuba last Friday where they signed a joint declaration on a wide range of religious and socio-political issues.

The spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church added, however, that the existence of a committee on Ukraine was called into question by the leader of the Ukrainian Church himself and his "unguarded remarks" about the Holy See.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav said in an interview, published by the UGCC website last Sunday, that the pontiff’s team behind the joint declaration was too weak to tackle issues outside the theological spectrum. He also lashed out at the Christian leaders for not inviting him to the talks.

The February 12 meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis at a Havana airport marked the first time a Catholic pope and an Orthodox patriarch met since Christianity split into western and eastern branches in 1054.