Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow told his visitor, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, that Catholicism is flourishing in Russia. "Although it is a small Church here," he said, "she lives, just as in France or Spain."
Preaching in his native French, Cardinal Etchegary reminded the congregation of his status as a roving diplomat for the Vatican by mentioning that last year he had celebrated the feast of the Assumption in Lebanon, where he was on a special mission. The cardinal had traveled to Russia to join in festivities for the 10th anniversary of the cathedral in Novosibirsk, Siberia. But during his visit Cardinal Etchegaray met with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, bringing a private message from the Holy Father and pressing for closer ecumenical ties between Moscow and Rome.