Orthodox study of canonisations

From Michael Wilson In Rome A DELEGATION of Russion Orthodox prelates, priests and laymen has completed an initial survey of the structures of the Catholic Church and, in particular, of the process of canonisation of a Catholic saint.
The Russian Church has not canonised a saint since St Seraphom of Sarov in 1901, and was able to view at first hand the canonisation of St John Ogilvie.
Canonisations are among the issues on the agenda for panOrthodox discussion, andan area in which the Catholic Church may find mutual agreement with the Orthodox in future talks.
The visit by the Russian delegation, led by Metropolitan Juvenaly, of Tula and Belev, followed a visit to Russia of a Rome Curia delegation led by Salesian Fr Antonio Javierre; Mgr Andrea Cirdero Lanza di Montezemolo, pro-secretary of the Justice and Peace Cornmission, and Fr John Long, SJ, a Secretariat for Christian Unity expert on the Russian Church.
The present meetings and interchange of visits are in preparation for an eventual mixed meeting with pan-Orthodox representatives tentatively arranged for 1977. That the Orthodox need time to come to agreement between the 14 different Churches before sitting down with the Catholic, is the explanation given for the delay. While in Italy, the Russian Orthodox visited the Shrine of the Virgin in Loretta and also prayed at the Shrine of St Nicholas of Bari, one of the most of revered saints in the Orthodox calendar.
The week-long talks in Rome ended last week and the delegation returned to Moscow.