Pope To Return Stolen Icon to Russian Orthodox Church
Al@nopoopovspam.com AGG
Pope to return stolen Russian icon
Saturday 10 July 2004 8:58 PM GMT
The pope is keen to improve ties with the Russian Orthodox Church
Pope John Paul II is expected to return to Russian authorities the "Our Lady
of Kazan" icon stolen from St Petersburg in the early 20th century.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls on Saturday said the priceless 16th
century icon would be handed back to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church
on 28 August.
The icon has become something of a symbol of the pope's long-cherished
intention to visit Russia, an event which has been blocked by strained
relations between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican.
Navarro-Valls said the pope hoped the return of the Madonna of Kazan would
"contribute to the unity so longed for between the Catholic and Orthodox
Churches."
Last year, the pope had planned a trip to Mongolia during which he hoped to
stop over in Kazan, in Russia's autonomous republic of Tatarstan, to return
the icon.
But Patriarch Alexy II - head of the Russian Orthodox Church which accuses
Catholics in Russia of proselytizing - opposed the plan.
Strained ties
Relations between the two churches have been sorely strained since Pope John
Paul II announced in 2001 that he was creating four new Roman Catholic
dioceses in Orthodox Russia, where Orthodox believers outnumber Catholics by
more than 150 to one.
"A few weeks ago, the Holy Father communicated to the patriarch of Moscow
his wish to give to the Russian Orthodox Church the sacred icon of the Lady
of Kazan," Navarro-Valls said.
The date of 28 August has been agreed upon for the return of the icon
because it marks the Feast of the Assumption of the Madonna in the Orthodox
calendar.
The icon discovered in Kazan in 1597 is venerated for its miraculous powers.
It was stolen from the cathedral at Kazan in 1904 and taken abroad.
After it was stolen from St Petersburg, the icon is understood to have been
bought from a dealer by a Catholic organization and presented to the pope in
1993. Since then, it has been hanging in his private rooms at the Vatican.
AFP
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ABD67CCB-24E6-4376-A72F-8FEAB9CD3458.
htm
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/95007/1/.html>
11 July 2004 0008 hrs (SST)
VATICAN CITY : Pope John Paul II will next month return the priceless 'Our
Lady of Kazan' icon, stolen from St Petersburg in the early years of the
last century, to the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Alexy II, the
Vatican revealed.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the icon, which the pope had
previously hoped to return in person, would be presented to Patriarch Alexy
on August 28.
The icon has become something of a symbol of John Paul II's long-cherished
intention to visit Russia, an event which has been blocked by strains
between the Orthodox church and the Vatican.
After it was stolen from Saint Petersburg, the icon is understood to have
been bought from a dealer by a Catholic organisation and presented to the
pope in 1993.
- AFP
Pope to hand icon back to Russia
By David Willey
BBC correspondent in Rome
Pope John Paul II has decided to return to Russia a revered icon painting
from his private apartments at the Vatican.
The Pope says he is making the gesture as a gift to the Russian people.
He had hoped to return the painting - a copy of a famous Russian icon of
the Virgin and child dating back about 300 years - to Russia in person.
But the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church made it clear the Pope would
not be welcome because of persisting tension between the two churches.
John Paul, who is holidaying in the Italian Alps, has evidently been
pondering the current poor state of relations between the Vatican and the
Russian Orthodox Church.
Gesture of friendship
The Russian Church belongs to the Eastern branch of Christianity which
separated from the Western branch - then centred in Rome - a thousand years
ago.
Last month however, the Pope made a gesture of friendship towards the
Orthodox by inviting to Rome Patriarch Bartholomew, the head of all the
Eastern Churches.
The 84-year-old pontiff would like to be remembered as the pope that
finally ended the millennial rift between the two branches of Christianity.
This icon, which he has personally revered in Rome for two decades, is a
powerful symbol for Russian believers.
The painting will be carried to Russia by a Vatican delegation next month.
But a papal visit to Moscow still remains highly unlikely.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3883627.stm
Published: 2004/07/10 21:34:47 GMT
© BBC MMIV
Vatican to Return 16th Century Icon to Russia
VOA News
10 Jul 2004, 21:33 UTC
The Vatican has announced plans to return a 16th century icon to the
Russian Orthodox church in a gesture aimed at warming relations between the
two churches.
Pope John Paul II said through a spokesman Saturday that a Vatican
delegation will take the Madonna of Kazan back to Russia on August 28.
The Kazan Madonna was stolen from Russia in the early 20th century and
later presented to the pope.
The pope had hoped to take the relic to Russia himself last year, but the
trip was canceled.
Relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches have
been strained for years.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Pope to return icon to Russia
Sat July 10, 2004 01:28 PM ET
INTROD, Italy (Reuters) - Pope John Paul plans to return a 16th century
icon to Russia to try to help thaw frosty relations between the Vatican and
the Russian Orthodox church, his spokesman says.
The Kazan Madonna, a Russian icon the Vatican has possessed since the early
20th century, will be handed over to the Moscow Patriarch Alexiy II in
August.
"The Holy Father hopes this pilgrimage of the Kazan Madonna will contribute
to the wished for unity between the Catholic and Orthodox churches," Vatican
spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced on Saturday in the Alpine retreat
where the Pope is on holiday.
The 83-year-old Pope has expressed his wish to visit Russia, and but only
with the blessing of the Patriarch, which has not been forthcoming. The two
churches split a millennium ago.
A Vatican delegation will return the icon to Russia on August 28, a feast
day of the Madonna in the Orthodox calendar. The icon was originally in the
cathedral of Kazan, a city east of Moscow.
© Reuters 2004. All rights reserved.
Pope Sending Revered Icon Back to Russia
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer
July 10, 2004, 11:39 AM EDT
INTROD, Italy -- In a major gesture toward Russian Orthodox Christians,
Pope John Paul II will return a revered icon that the Vatican has held for
three decades, the Vatican said Saturday.
The announcement, made while John Paul is vacationing in this Alpine hamlet
near France, came as a surprise, although the Vatican has been talking about
a return since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Vatican in
November.
The icon of the Mother of God of Kazan usually hangs in John Paul's private
chapel.
John Paul had been hoping to return it himself and become the first Roman
Catholic pontiff to visit Russia, but tense relations with the Orthodox have
prevented such a trip.
Instead the icon will be taken to Russia on Aug. 28 by a Vatican delegation
still to be named, said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
Tensions between the Russian Orthodox Church, the dominant Christian faith
in Russia, and Roman Catholic Church have deep historical roots. But they
have increased markedly since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and
communist restrictions on religion faded.
The Roman Catholic Church has sought to recover churches that belonged to it
before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and has attracted new followers in
Russia since 1991. Still, the Catholic flock in Russia remains tiny, about
600,000 people.
The Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics of poaching converts in
Russia and other traditionally Orthodox lands in the former Soviet Union. It
says it won't agree to a papal visit until the Catholics stop missionary
activities and withdraw claims to disputed church property in western
Ukraine.
The Vatican had looked into the possibility of a papal stop in the Russian
city of Kazan during a proposed trip to Mongolia last August to return the
icon. But the Mongolia trip was postponed and plans for the Kazan stopover
were shelved.
The icon, which first appeared in Kazan in 1579, is revered by Russian
believers for its purported ability to work miracles, including the rout of
Polish invaders from Russia in the early 17th century. It hung in the Kazan
Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square and the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg
before being taken to the West after the 1917 revolution.
A Catholic group bought the icon in the 1970s and later presented it to the
pope.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
Pope to return icon in gesture to Russian church
10.07.2004, 21.29
VATICAN CITY, July 10 (Itar-Tass) - Pope John Paul II plans to return the
16th century icon Mother of God of Kazan to help improve relations between
the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, Holy See spokesman Joaquin
Navaro-Vals said on Saturday.
The icon will be handed over to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia
in August, Navarro-Vals said. "The Holy Father hopes this pilgrimage of the
Kazan Madonna will contribute to the wished for unity between the Catholic
and Orthodox churches," the Vatican spokesman said.
A Vatican delegation will return the icon to Russia on August 28, a feast
day of the Madonna in the Orthodox calendar. The icon was originally in the
cathedral of Kazan, a city east of Moscow.
© ITAR-TASS. All right reserved.
New Straits Times, Malaysia
Pope to return priceless icon to Russia
Pope John Paul II will next month return the priceless 'Our Lady of Kazan'
icon, stolen from St Petersburg in the early 20th century, to the head of
the Russian Orthodox Church, the Vatican said.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 16th-century icon, which
the pope had previously hoped to return in person, would be presented to
Patriarch Alexy II on August 28.
The icon has become something of a symbol of John Paul II's long-cherished
intention to visit Russia, an event which has been blocked by strained
relations between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican.
Navarro-Valls said the 84-year-old pontiff hoped the return of the Madonna
of Kazan would "contribute to the unity so longed for between the Catholic
and Orthodox Churches," Navarro-Valls said.
Last year, the pope had planned a trip to Mongolia during which he hoped to
stop over in Kazan, in Russia's autonomous republic of Tatarstan, to return
the icon to the local Orthodox Church. But Alexy II, whose church accuses
Catholics in Russia of proselytising, opposed the plan.
Relations between the two churches have been sorely strained since Pope John
Paul II announced in 2001 that he was creating four new Roman Catholic
dioceses in Orthodox Russia, where Orthodox believers outnumber the Catholic
faithful by more than 150 to one.
The row has prevented the first Slav pope in history from fulfilling his
long-held dream of visiting Russia on a mission of unity.
"A few weeks ago, the Holy Father communicated to the patriarch of Moscow
his wish to give to the Russian Orthodox Church the sacred icon of the Lady
of Kazan," Navarro-Valls said.
He added that ever since the pope had received the icon several years ago he
had had "a profound desire to return it to be revered by the Russian
people".
August 28 had been agreed upon for the return of the icon because it marks
the Feast of the Assumption of the Madonna in the liturgical Orthodox
calendar, he added.
Details of the return and of who will take it to Russia will be announced
later.
The icon discovered in Kazan in 1597 is venerated for its miraculous powers.
It was stolen from the cathedral at Kazan in 1904 and taken abroad.
After it was stolen from Saint Petersburg, the icon is understood to have
been bought from a dealer by a Catholic organisation and presented to the
pope in 1993. Since then it has been hanging in his private rooms at the
Vatican.
The offer to return the Madonna of Kazan was made easier by another attempt,
just two weeks ago, to mend fences between the Catholic and Orthodox
leaderships.
The Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople visited the Vatican in
late June-early July and invited John Paul II to make a return trip in
November to the city now called Istanbul.
The pope said on June 29 the visit by Patriarch Bartholomew I, which lasted
several days, marked a "leap ahead in dialogue and the strengthening of
fraternal relations".
john j
its not,not, the Icon " Our Lady of Kazan " . So why do theRussians
want it .
It is as usual a friendly gesture by the Catholic church to the ROC. why
Rome even bothers is beyond me.
Al@nopoopovspam.com AGG
the silver trappings. The several copies that exist have been attributed to
any number of miracles.
"john j" <JOH...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:27943-40F...@storefull-3136.bay.webtv.net...
T254
>its not,not, the Icon " Our Lady of Kazan " . So why do theRussians
>want it .
But the Russians didn't ask for it Johhny Boy. It is but one of many
miraculous copies. There are others already in Russia. But since it was
stolen from Russia they will take it back because it was their's to begin with!
Stolen property belongs with its original owners.
Glad to se that after eleven years of trying to use it as a bribe the Pope
finally realized this.
Bob Tallick
john j
Accordingto the official history of the Icon . The Bolsheviks sold it
along with other religious items with the approval of the metropolitan
serguis .
Cunneen
to nationalistic Russia right now.
ChucklesPF
> The icon discovered in Kazan in 1597 is venerated for its miraculous powers.
> It was stolen from the cathedral at Kazan in 1904 and taken abroad.
>
> After it was stolen from St Petersburg, the icon is understood to have been
> bought from a dealer by a Catholic organization and presented to the pope in
> 1993. Since then, it has been hanging in his private rooms at the Vatican.
Maybe the poor pope has been hanging on to it, hoping the "miraculous powers"
might cure him of his illness or "cure" all his gay pedophile priests. Obviously it's
not working so he's gonna pass it on. Perhaps he should try one of televangelist
Robert Tilton's "prayer cloths." Tilton is expensive, he sometimes asks for
$1000 "gifts." But that shouldn't be too hard for the pope to manage.
bam
"ChucklesPF" <Chuck...@Ihatespam.com> wrote in message news:BfRIc.89621
>
> Maybe the poor pope has been hanging on to it, hoping the "miraculous
powers"
> might cure him of his illness or "cure" all his gay pedophile priests.
Obviously it's
> not working so he's gonna pass it on. Perhaps he should try one of
televangelist
> Robert Tilton's "prayer cloths." Tilton is expensive, he sometimes asks
for
> $1000 "gifts." But that shouldn't be too hard for the pope to manage.
Maybe you're a loud mouthed dope.
BAM