Pope Names Cleric His Contact With Russian Church
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VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II appointed an Australian archbishop and veteran diplomat Tuesday as his main negotiator with the Russian Orthodox Church over the thorny issue of Ukrainian Catholics.
Archbishop Edward Cassidy, 65, the Pope’s deputy secretary of state for the last 17 months, was named to head the Vatican’s Bureau for Christian Unity, a key position in Roman Catholic attempts to improve relations with the Russian church.
The Vatican said the Pope had accepted the resignation of Dutch Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, 80, a major church figure who headed the Christian unity department for 20 years.
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