Bishop Basil Krivocheine, the Catholic Church and Chevetogne

This article by Father Antoine Lambrechts examines the relations of Archbishop Basil Krivocheine (1900-1985), Orthodox Archbishop of Brussels, with the Roman Catholic Church, using his ties with the Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne as a guiding thread. Drawing on a documentary study based primarily on the archbishop's private correspondence, the article traces the evolution of his position, from marked mistrust during his Athonite period to lasting friendships with Catholic patrologists. The central idea is that Krivocheine conceived of ecumenical dialogue exclusively on the basis of the faith of the undivided Church and the patristic tradition, rejecting any purely diplomatic or gestural rapprochement. The article thus sheds original light on the internal tensions within Russian Orthodoxy in the face of Catholic ecumenism, particularly through his opposition to the pro-Catholic approach of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad.