Cypriot Orthodox archbishop suggests Cyprus as site for pope-Russian Orthodox meeting

VATICAN CITY: A Cypriot Orthodox archbishop seeking to arrange a groundbreaking meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Russian Orthodox patriarch said Monday that Cyprus would be an ideal location for the talks.

Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus has just completed a six-day visit to Rome for talks with Benedict and other Vatican officials and now plans to meet with Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow on July 13.

He said the Orthodox Church is "open" to a meeting with Benedict and that while it is not clear where it would be held, "Cyprus would be a solution."

Such an encounter eluded the late John Paul II in his long papacy because of Catholic-Orthodox tensions following the demise of Soviet communism.

But Vatican officials have expressed recent optimism that the talks could be held within a year.

Chrysostomos told reporters on Saturday that the chief problem was a lack of communication between the pope and the patriarch. The archbishop contended that Benedict's background as a theologian with a good grasp of Orthodox theology would help the process of reuniting the two churches, which split nearly 1,000 years ago.

The archbishop invited Benedict to visit Cyprus.

The Russian church accuses Roman Catholics of improperly seeking converts in areas that traditionally would be Russian Orthodox. The Vatican has rejected the allegations, saying it is only ministering to Russia's tiny Catholic community of about 600,000 people in a country of 144 million.