Catholic World News News Feature
Romanian Orthodox, Catholics Agree On Church Property February 01, 1999
BUCHAREST (CWNews.com) - The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in the country have reached agreements on the ownership of many churches, but they have not yet agreed on whether to invite Pope John Paul II to visit Romania.
Leaders of both churches met for 12 hours last week and agreed to share some of the more than 2,000 churches seized from the Catholic Church after World War II by the Communist government and given to Orthodox parishes. Both sides agreed for the first time to share buildings when more than one exists in any given town. Orthodox leaders also said they would cease attempts to restore control over other churches ordered returned to Catholic parishes by court rulings.
In a statement, Orthodox leaders said they would only agree to support a papal visit, which would be the first to a predominantly Orthodox country, if Catholics agreed to abandon all further legal action. "A handful of Orthodox clerics cannot decide on a visit by the pope," Daniel, Orthodox Metropolitan of Moldova, told Cotidianul newspaper. "This is a matter for the holy synod."
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