Moscow, August 1 (RIA Novosti, Olga Lipich) - "Pilgrimage to the Eternal City," an Orthodox-Catholic film production about early Christians in ancient Rome, will help bring the two churches closer together, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church said Monday.
"Culture, education, and the promotion of a religious worldview -these are spheres that will be of primary interest to different denominations and will stimulate their cooperation," Moscow Patriarchy Press Officer Vladimir Vigilyansky said. "There aren't, and cannot be, any obstacles [to such cooperation]."
The documentary is being made at the suggestion of the Moscow Patriarchy's Orthodox Encyclopedia scholarly center. Its head, Sergei Kravets, quoted Patriarch Alexy II as saying that the film was intended as a joint creative response to the European Union authorities' decision not to mention the Christian roots of European civilization in the EU Constitution.
"Millions of Christians are indignant over the fact that present-day Europe is trying to forget its spiritual homeland," Kravets said. "In this sense, the times of early Christians are a heritage shared by the Catholics and the Orthodox." He also said any knowledge about the other would promote [their] mutual understanding and rapprochement. Kravets said Patriarch Alexy had blessed the project and was personally guiding it. John Paul II also gave his endorsement. The film crew hopes the late Pope's successor, Benedict XVI, will accord an interview in September or October this year. Both the Patriarch and the Pontiff are to appear in the film.
The two Christian churches will closely cooperate in compiling the narrative, which will be edited by scholars of both the Moscow Patriarchy and the Vatican, Kravets said.
"Pilgrimage to the Eternal City" is comprised of five parts. The first part, directed and presented by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi, is devoted to the Apostle Peter. The next four parts will be presented by Russian actors and will tell, respectively, of the Apostle Paul, early Christian martyrs, the first women Christians, and the Emperor Constantine. The first three parts have already been filmed and are now being edited while the two concluding parts will be filmed in September and October, Kravets said. The release of the historic documentary is set for the beginning of 2006.
