Posted on: Saturday, August 28, 2004

Pope sends sacred art in peace bid

By Victor L. Simpson
Associated Press Writer

ROME — The Vatican returned a Russian icon venerated by Pope John Paul II to Moscow yesterday in a gesture intended to improve strained relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and possibly clearing the way for a visit by the ailing pontiff.

The icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, being accompanied by a high-ranking Vatican delegation, will be turned over to Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Alexy II in a ceremony today.

The 84-year-old John Paul, credited with helping bring down communism across Eastern Europe, has long sought to become to become the first Roman Cath-olic pontiff to visit Russia and had even hoped to return the icon himself.

But tensions between the churches have prevented such a trip by the Polish-born pope.

The 12-by-10-inch traditional Byzantine gold-and-wood icon, adorned with precious stones, depicts the madonna and child. It is an 18th-century copy of a 16th-century work that was revered by Russian believers for its purported ability to work miracles, including the rout of Polish invaders from Russia in the early 17th century.

The pope had kept the copy icon hung in his private chapel since receiving it from a Catholic group in 1993. Vatican officials have emphasized the significance of the pope's gesture in returning an icon that he has venerated in his apartment.

The original icon, which first appeared in the Volga River city of Kazan in 1579, hung in the Kazan Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square and the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg before being taken out of the country.

A joint commission — including representatives of the Vatican, the Russian church and the Russian Culture Ministry — examined the pope's icon last year and determined it dates from around the 18th century.

On Wednesday, the pope led a special prayer service for the icon's return, stressing his commitment to the unity of Christians. The Mother of God icon was put on public display Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica.

Alexy has welcomed the return of the icon, but emphasized that it is a copy of the cherished 16th-century work and therefore that there is no need for the pope to personally bring it back.

The Orthodox church accuses the Vatican of poaching for converts in traditionally Orthodox lands in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Alexy repeated that criticism in an interview published yesterday in Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, saying the Catholic Church must "radically change its policy toward the Orthodox and end unfriendly premeditated actions."

The delegation going to Moscow with the icon is headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican office for relations with other Christian denominations.

Also part of the escort group is Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., who had helped in presenting the icon to the pope.