Cardinal Kasper: United Europe impossible without unity of Christian churches

The European unity requires the unity of Christian churches, Cardinal Walter Kasper, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said during the sermon at the Moscow Catholic Cathedral on Wednesday.

"The restoration of the unity of Christian churches is highly important for the European unity today. Europe needs a Christian soul, brought by in your country by Sts. Cyril and Methodius," the cardinal told Russian Catholics. [Brothers Cyril and Methodius are Christian preachers and enlighteners, who created the first Slavonic alphabet in the 9th century].

"Europe needs not only the unity of economy and prosperity but also cultural unity. So the European unity cannot have only the economic basis," the cardinal said.

On February 19 Cardinal Kapser is scheduled to meet with Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the foreign church relations department of the Moscow Patriarchy. They are expected to discuss Catholic proselytism [missionary work among Orthodox believers] in Russia and other CIS countries, the expansion of Greek Catholics in Ukraine and other Catholic-Orthodox problems.