Christians try to stop missionary free-for-all

Leaders of Europe's main Christian religions appealed to each other at the end of a rare inter-denominational conference to stop trying to poach each other's flocks. "It is necessary ... to avoid any competitive endeavour by mutual respect of freedom of conscience," they said after the Second European Ecumenical Conference. It followed criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's missionary work in eastern Europe from the Russian Orthodox and Armenian churches.

At the Vatican, the Pope renewed his commitment to the goal of Christian unity but representatives of the Orthodox Church boycotted his Mass marking the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul. Reuters - Vienna