A top Vatican emissary on Wednesday said the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches should establish a telephone hot line to defuse differences that have kept the two faiths at odds for centuries.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, also said he hoped the churches could solve differences ``in the spirit of ecumenism and not rivalry.''
Kasper arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for sensitive talks aimed at bridging the gap between the churches. Strained ties have prevented Pope John Paul II from fulfilling his dream of traveling to Russia.
It was the first high-level visit by a Catholic representative in four years, and Kasper told congregants at Moscow's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Wednesday that it should ``give a new impulse'' to the churches' ties.
Tensions between the Orthodox, the dominant Christian faith in Russia and Ukraine, and Roman Catholics have deep historical roots. But they have increased markedly since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and communist restrictions on religion faded.
In particular, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, has accused Catholics of aggressive missionary activity in Russia and other predominantly Orthodox former Soviet Republics. He also alleges that Greek Catholics in western Ukraine, who retain Eastern-rite rituals but recognize the pope's supremacy, have accelerated their expansion into traditionally Orthodox eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Vatican rejects the accusations. Catholics have sought to recover churches that belonged to them before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and attract new followers.
Kasper said Wednesday that the Catholic Church did not have a ``purposeful policy'' of bringing the Gospel to Orthodox believers, but he said his church ``has the right to exist in the countries of Eastern Europe, with their Orthodox majority, and fulfill its mission.''
``Both sides must respect religious freedom and freedom of conscience,'' he said. ``However, this respect differs from active missionary work among Orthodox believers.''
He suggested setting up a commission to work on what he called common rules of behavior, as well as a hot line allowing each side to inform the other promptly of problems.
``It's impossible to resolve problems when after every mistake the other side breaks up the dialogue,'' Kasper said.
Hinting that Communism had sapped the Orthodox Church of energy, he expressed hope that the Orthodox would become increasingly active.
``Our missionary responsibilities must be fulfilled in the spirit of ecumenism and not rivalry,'' he said.
Father Igor Vyzhanov, an official in the Orthodox Church's foreign relations department, said the two churches had to go beyond talk.
``Problems remain, in particular, missionary activities in Russia and the problems between the Greek Catholics and the Orthodox in Ukraine,'' he said in response to Kasper's talk.
Alexy, the patriarch, has said repeatedly that relations with the Roman Catholic Church must improve before he would agree to a papal visit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with John Paul at the Vatican in November, has indicated he would favor a visit by John Paul but would not pressure the Orthodox Church to agree.