text: Not just the Ukrainians, members of the Russian Catholic Church fear that they may be forgotten by Vatican officials anxious to improve relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, reports Francis X. Rocca of the Wall Street Journal.
  Not just ecumenism, the joint declaration with Kirill also included a denouncement of same-sex marriage. Putin “also takes the position held by Pope Francis that ‘tolerance of gender choice results from a Western imperial ideology.'” (blog.oup.com) “The Foreign Office of the Moscow Patriarchate held an international seminar at the end of January [2017] during which the Orthodox and Catholic Churches jointly addressed the issue of abortion.” The seminar was “a direct result” of the pope and patriarch meeting. (zenit.org)