"Modern Europe that has lost its religious, moral and cultural roots"

So said Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk at the 4th International Congress in Wurzburg. He called for increasing Catholic/Orthodox cooperation, and identified where such cooperation is possible and absolutely necessary.

"Orthodox and Catholics face the same challenges cast by modern epoch to the traditional life style. Here it's not the matter of theological issues, but present and future of human community is in question. It's the sphere where Orthodox and Catholic can cooperate without any harm to their church identity," the hierarch said.

He called this form of interaction "a strategic alliance."

It includes joint efforts taken to affirm in society Christian ideas of family, marriage, bringing up children, value of human life from conception to death. Other direction of possible interaction which becomes more actual is "protection of Christians from discrimination," the hierarch said."

We have been quite impressed by the young Most Reverend Hilarion. He gave a wonderful address in England last September, which we posted on.