1. Wide shot of churches inside the Kremlin 2. Interior Assumption Cathedral, Patriarch Alexy II blesses the congregation 3. Light streaming through cathedral window 4. Wide shot cathedral and congregation 5. Mid shot Catholic delegation and Patriarch 6. Close up Icon of Kazan 7. Wide shot Orthodox priests and congregation 8. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Cardinal Walter Kasper: ''In the name of his Holiness John Paul II, the delegation of Holy See acting as the Plenipotentiary of the Pope, has the honour of greeting you and also your Metropolitans, Episcopalians, priests, monks and nuns and also all the Godly, saintly people of the Russian Orthodox Church taking part here. Peace be with you and praise be to God.'' 9. Wide shot Kasper kisses Icon, and passes it to Patriarch, the two embrace and Kasper passes envelope 10. Wide shot cathedral roof, tilt down congregation 11. Close up Icon 12. Wide shot congregation 13. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Alexy II, Patriarch of Russia: ''We are receiving an ancient image which has travelled through many countries and towns of the world and is now returning to Russia.'' 14. Wide shot Orthodox officials carrying candles 15. Mid shot cloaks of priests 16. Priest blesses congregation with candles STORYLINE: A Russian icon that hung for years in Pope John Paul II's private chapel returned home to the Russian Orthodox Church on Saturday, a gesture the ailing pontiff hopes will improve relations between the two churches. A senior Vatican delegation, headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper, handed over the 18th century replica of the Mother of God of Kazan icon to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II during an Orthodox service marking the Feast of the Assumption in the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral. The 84-year-old John Paul, the Roman Catholic Church's first Slavic pope, has long hoped to visit Russia, and initially considered returning the icon himself. But while the collapse of the atheist Soviet state made it possible to conceive of such a visit, the faith free-for-all that followed in Russia soured relations between the churches, giving birth to a new kind of antagonism and distrust a millennium after the Great Schism divided Christianity into eastern and western branches. The Orthodox Church has accused the Vatican of trying to poach converts among Russian Orthodox believers, while the Catholic Church counters that it is trying to minister to the small Catholic community - about 600,000 people or less than 1 percent of Russia's 144 million. Alexy emphasised earlier this month that the Pope is not welcome in Russia, telling President Vladimir Putin that the icon is just "one of many copies" so there is no reason for John Paul to personally deliver it. The 32 by 26 centimetre (12 by 10 inch) icon, taken to the West after the 1917 Russian Revolution, was presented to the pope by a Catholic group in 1993 and has hung in his private chapel. The original icon, which first appeared in the Volga River city of Kazan in 1579, is revered by Russian believers for its purported ability to work miracles, including the rout of Polish invaders from Russia in the early 17th century. It hung in the Kazan Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square and the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg before disappearing. A joint commission including representatives of the Vatican, the Russian church and the Russian Culture Ministry examined the pope's icon last year and determined it dated from around the 18th century. But, nevertheless, the pope has said that it is dear to him, noting that it "has watched over his daily work" and the Vatican has emphasised this in talking about its return. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7d741e00deb4ceeecd823a7def32e639 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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