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*1966-67 Pope Paul VI continued John XXIII's policy of dialogue with Soviet leaders in order to reduce persecutions against local Christians ([[w:Ostpolitik|Ostpolitik]] policy), receiving Foreign Minister [[w:Andrei Gromyko|Andrei Gromyko]] and USSR President [[w:Nikolai Podgorny|Nikolai Podgorny]]; however while the Soviet officials considered themselves calling on the pope as the head of the [[w:Vatican City|Vatican City State]], the Vatican announced the visit as made to the Holy Father as supreme pastor of the [[w:Holy See|Holy See]].<ref>Francis X. Murphy. ''Vatican Politics: Structure and Function.'' '''World Politics'''. Vol.26, No.4 (July 1974). p.554.</ref>
*1968 Visit to [[Patriarchate of Alexandria]] by Vatican representatives, who give Patr. [[Nicholas (Valeropoulos) VI of Alexandria|Nicholas VI]] a part of the relics of [[Apostle Mark|St Mark]] from Venice, on behalf of Pope [[Paul VI of Rome|Paul VI]]; the [[w:Centro Pro Unione|Centro Pro Unione]] center is founded by the [[w:Society of the Atonement|Society of the Atonement]] (Graymoor Friars and Sisters) as an ecumenical research and action center.
*1969 The new Roman Missal ''Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani'' or ''[[w:General Instruction of the Roman Missal|General Instruction of the Roman Missal]] (GIRM)'' is issued, indicating a preference for the liturgical orientation in which the priest celebrates the Liturgy of "[[w:Versus populum|Versus Populum]]" ("towards the people"), rather than "[[w:Ad orientem|Ad Orientem]]" ("towards the east") in Roman Catholic Churches.<ref group="note">According to Fr. Uwe Michael Lang:<br>:<small>"The most important directive is found in paragraph 262 of the ''Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani,'' the General Instruction of the new Roman Missal, issued in 1969. That says, 'It is better for the main altar to be constructed away from the wall so that one can easily walk around the altar and celebrate facing the people (''versus populum'').' The General Instruction of the Missal issued in 2002 retained this text unaltered except fro the addition of the subordinate clause, 'which is desirable wherever possible'. This was taken in many quarters as a hradening of the 1969 text to mean that there was now a general obligation to set up altars facing the people 'wherever possible'. This interpretation, however, was rejected by the [[w:Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|Congregation for Divine Worship]] on 25 September 2000, when it declared that the word '' 'expedit' '' ('is desirable') did not imply an obligation but only made a suggestion." </small><br> (Fr. Uwe Michael Lang. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=r9GLP8GMixEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer].'' Ignatius Press, 2004. pp.9-10,25-26.)</ref><ref group="note">According to Pope [[Benedict XVI]]:<br>:<small>"...The liturgical renewal in our own century took up this alleged model and developed from it a new idea for the form of the liturgy. The Eucharist - so it was said - had to be celebrated ''versus populum'' (toward the people). The altar - as can be seen in the normative model of St. Peter's - had to be positioned in such a way that priest and people looked at each other and formed together the circle of the celebrating community. This alone - so it was said - was compatible with the meaning of the Christian liturgy, with the requirement of active participation. This alone conformed to the primordial model of the Last Supper. These arguments seemed in the end so persuasive that after the Council [Vatican II] (which says nothing about "turning toward the people") new altars were set up everywhere, and today celebration ''versus populum'' really does look like the characteristic fruit of Vatican II's liturgical renewal."</small><br>
(Pope [[Benedict XVI]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=Wf0llOhrfY4C&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Spirit of the Liturgy].'' Transl. John Saward. Ignatius Press, 2000. p.77.)</ref>
*1979 [[w:Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church|Joint Commission of Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches for Theological Dialogue]] established.