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Moscow Patriarchate hopes Opus Dei won't engage in proselytism

Moscow, December 18, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate hopes the Opus Dei Catholic organization, which has recently opened its headquarters in Moscow, will not engage in missionary activity among Orthodox Christians.

"Opus Dei is seeking to assert Christian values in modern society. But we hope it won't engage in proselytism, or in other words, attempt to convert believers baptized in the Orthodox Church to Catholicism," deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion.

He expressed hope that the Russian branch of Opus Dei would always act openly and honestly in relations with the Orthodox Church and the secular society.

The Moscow Patriarchate knows about the work Opus Dei has conducted among Russian Catholics and about contacts it has sought with Orthodox believers, Chaplin said.

At the same time, he said that although "not all of Opus Dei's heritage can be perceived by Orthodox Christians, the energy of those people and their devotion to Christian ideals deserve respect".

Russian Church representatives have repeatedly met with Opus Dei leadership and its Russian members.

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