The ecumenical-affairs spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church has said that dialogue with Rome has become “significantly more difficult” since the release of the Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans.
Metropolitan Anthony, who heads the External Church Relations department for the Moscow Patriarchate, said that ecumenical relations have been complicated by the declaration, which allows for blessings of same-sex couples. A theological commission of the Russian Orthodox Church had earlier concluded that the Vatican statement could not be reconciled with Christian teaching.
A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow told the RIA Novisti news agency that Fiducia Supplicans should not be understood as implying acceptance of homosexual relations. Russian Orthodox analysts differ.