Dear Valentino,
Brian is absolutely correct about what I said
.
St Seraphim of Sarov is now recognized as a Saint by the Latin Catholic Church.
Pope John Paul II does have a personal veneration for a number of Orthodox saints and these include St Seraphim of Sarov and St Theophane the Recluse, whose writings the Pope loves to read.
It is interesting to note that His Holiness venerates St Theophane, despite the fact that Theophane did not have anything good to say about the Roman Catholic Church and the New Catholic Encyclopaedia simply says in reference to this that Theophane "repeated the prejudices of his environment"
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Even Old Believers venerate St Seraphim (although he is not formally in their calendars) and even though Seraphim himself did not agree with the two-fingered Sign of the Cross (sometimes when he saw someone cross themselves that way, he would grab their hand and force them to make three fingers as he said, "Khrestysia tak! Khrestysia tak!" or "Cross yourself this way!).
Happy Easter!
Alex
Catholic church too?
