Orthodox monks state their opinion:

Monks at a reclusive Orthodox sanctuary criticized a landmark visit to the Vatican by Greece’s church leader Archbishop Christodoulos last month as endangering centuries-old church traditions.

"We bear a heavy responsibility before the faithful people of Greece who regard (us) as being the inviolable guardian of holy tradition," the monks from the sanctuary of Mount Athos in northern Greece wrote. Their letter was published Wednesday in the Athens daily Ethnos.

"It is with anguish that we declare that Mount Athos does not agree with common prayers, participation in liturgies or other devotional meetings that give the impression that the Orthodox Church accepts the Roman Catholics as a full church," the monks wrote in the letter signed by all 20 monastic representatives on the self-governing peninsula.

Christodoulos met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Dec. 14 and signed a joint declaration calling for inter-religious dialogue and reaffirming common opposition to abortion and euthanasia.