Following the official announcement of changes at the top of the Mother of God Archdiocese, the Catholic community in Russia is hopeful that relations with the Orthodox might improve. Mgr Pezzi replaces Mgr Kondrusiewicz, who moves to Minsk. The new bishop is expected tonight in Rome.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The faithful have received the news that Fr Paolo Pezzi, from the Priestly Brotherhood of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo, is the new metropolitan bishop of the archdiocese of the ‘Mother of God” in Moscow with “optimism and great expectation for real improvement in the relations between the Catholic Church in Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate.”

The priest, who hitherto served as the rector of the ‘Mary Queen of the Apostle’ Major Seminary in Saint-Petersburg, replaces Mgr Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who moves to the archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, in Belarus.

For Moscow’s Catholic community the change at the top of the archdiocese “is the Pope’s, hence, God’s will, and so is looking forward to the future hoping in real rapprochement with its Orthodox brothers,” Russian sources told AsiaNews.

Since Benedict XVI was elected Pontiff, relations between the Holy See and the Moscow Patriarchate have gradually improved.

The two Churches have found fertile ground for dialogue and joint commitment on issues like Europe’s de-Christianisation, human rights protection, the defence of the family and bioethics.

Relations at a local level have however remained tense. The Moscow Patriarchate has in fact continued to charge the Catholic Church with proselytising in an Orthodox land.

Mgr Kondrusiewicz, the first metropolitan bishop of the Mother of God Archdiocese, has already said that he ‘obediently” accepts the Pope’s will.

Mgr Pezzi, who is expected in Rome tonight travelling from Moscow, is 47-year-old with a vast knowledge of Russia. He has worked primarily in Siberia.

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