In 1928, Catholic and Orthodox priests who had been deported to the far north of Russia held ecumenical conferences of exceptional merit and cordiality. With the help of books borrowed from Orthodox monks, a Catholic priest, Father Fedorov, explained the doctrine of papal infallibility. After a long discussion, Archbishop Hilarion, former auxiliary to the Patriarch in Moscow, declared, «Understood this way, I no longer see why this dogma would be repugnant to the Orthodox world.» On June 27, 2001, the Pope beatified Leonid Fedorov, a man for whom Christian unity was a constant concern.
Leonid Fedorov was born on November 4, 1879, into an Orthodox family. His father died prematurely, and Mrs. Fedorov continued to operate the family restaurant in St. Petersburg by herself. Leonid was a gentle and sensitive adolescent. His mother did all she could to introduce him to Christian piety. Possessed of an independent and idealistic temperament, the young man was an avid reader of French, Italian, and German authors. After reading works of Hindu philosophy, he thought, «What's the point of this worthless life? What's the point of activity, bustling, noble impulses, effort? Is not the perpetual rest of nirvana preferable, where all aspiration subsides, where the eternal appeasement of annihilation is established?» But these tendencies of soul were short-lived. Under the influence of an Orthodox priest whose combination of virtue and learning made him a great teacher, the young man's soul was pacified and, upon leaving his secondary studies, in which he had been a brilliant success, he entered the Ecclesiastical Academy, the higher school of theology.
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