REPRESENTATIVES of the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches discussed "the role of the Christian in a developing society" on Monday in Bari, South Italy, the city which contains the remains of St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of Russia.
The latest of a series of bilateral talks between the two Churches opened on Sunday, St. Nicholas' Day, with a concelebrated Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
A Vatican delegation travelled to Moscow in 1967 to meet Patriarch Alexius of Moscow. and the following year Russian Orthodox archpriests brought a lamp to the Basilica of St. Nicholas as a gift from Patriarch Alexius.
`SANTA CLAUS' LEGEND St. Nicholas. a fourth century bishop from Asia Minor venerated by both Catholics and Orthodox, won fame for helping the needy.
Medieval folk tradition transformed him into the giftgiving Santa Claus. Italian fishermen brought his body from Asia Minor to Bari in the Ilth century.