Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Italy on Thursday and meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Italy on Thursday and meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Russia and the Vatican established their first state-level contacts in the late 15th century. The first Russian mission to the Vatican was accredited in 1817.
For several decades, the Soviet Union remained one of the most closed countries to the Vatican. The warmest period in the bilateral interstate relations was under Pope Paul VI (1963-1978).
On January 30, 1967, Nikolai Podgorny, the chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, paid the first official visit to the Vatican.
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko had two brief meetings with the holy pontiffs. The first such meeting took place on October 4, 1965, in New York, where Pope Paul VI greeted delegates of the United Nation's General Assembly.
The Pope received Gromyko four times. The first unofficial meeting was held on April 27, 1966, followed by meetings on November 12, 1970, February 21, 1974, and June 28, 1975.
Pope John Paul II met with Gromyko twice: on January 24, 1979, and February 27, 1985. After each meeting, the Soviet Government slightly mitigated its policies with regard to religion in general and the Roman Catholic Church in particular.
On December 1, 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev, chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, paid an official visit to Pope John Paul II.
On November 18, 1990, Gorbachev was received at the Vatican once again.
The Soviet Union and the Vatican established official relations on March 15, 1990. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Vatican recognized the Russian Federation's independence and sovereignty on September 5, 1991.
On December 20, 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin paid his first official visit to the Vatican. Pope John Paul II received Yeltsin for the second time on February 10, 1998. Pope John Paul II received Putin, as Russia's president, twice: in June 2000 and November 2003.
On March 13, 2007, Putin met with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.
On December 3, 2009, then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid a working visit to the Vatican and was received there by Pope Benedict XVI. During their meeting, both sides voiced their intention to raise the level of relations between Russia and the Holy See.
On December 9, 2009, Russia and the Holy See exchanged notes on establishing bilateral diplomatic relations at the level of the Russian Embassy in the Vatican and the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican's top-level diplomatic mission in Russia.
On February 17, 2011, Medvedev, who still was Russian president at the time, paid the first official visit to the Vatican after the establishment of full-fledged diplomatic relations. Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI focused on the prospects of humanitarian, cultural, and social cooperation, as well as in science, education and culture. They also discussed the broadening of the interfaith dialogue. After being received by the Holy Pontiff, Medvedev had a brief meeting with Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, the cardinal secretary of state.
On November 25, 2013, President Putin met with Pope Francis for 35 minutes in the Vatican. He presented the Holy Pontiff with the Icon of Vladimir Mother of God. In response, Pope Francis presented the Russian leader with majolica depicting the Gardens of the Vatican. While saying goodbye, he asked the president to convey his best wishes to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
On June 10, 2015, Putin visited the Vatican once again and met with Pope Francis. During their conversation, which lasted more than an hour, they discussed the current situation on the international agenda, including the crisis in Ukraine.
On December 17, 2016, Putin had a telephone conversation with Pope Francis and wished him a happy 80th birthday.
From August 20-24, 2017, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin paid an official visit to Russia, during which he met with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Following the visit, Russia and the Vatican signed an agreement on visa-free travel for the owners of diplomatic passports. The results of the negotiations gave new impetus to the development of Russian-Vatican relations in various fields.
The foreign ministries of the two states also maintain active contacts, which have become regular in recent years.
In 2015, Lavrov met with Paul Richard Gallagher, the secretary for relations with states, on June 10 at the Vatican, and also on December 3 on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Belgrade.
On December 2, 2016, during his visit to the Vatican, Lavrov held talks with Parolin and Gallagher.
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the two states was also held on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in December 2017, in Vienna, and next December in Milan.
Russia and the Vatican cooperate within the United Nations and other international organizations, including the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
Science and education cooperation is also developing dynamically. The Russian academy of Sciences' Institute of World History and the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences are implementing numerous historical research projects. In October 2013, the two institutions signed a five-year cooperation agreement. Scientific conferences take place on a regular basis.
Russia and the Vatican continue to expand their cultural contacts. From April 14 through June 11, 2011, the Raphael Hall at the Vatican Museums hosted the exhibition "Faberge: Holy Images" sponsored by the Link of Times cultural and historical foundation and featuring 140 exhibits owned by the Russian Royal Family and representatives of Russian and European aristocracy.
The Vatican Museums provided Caravaggio's masterpiece, "The Entombment of Christ," for the exhibition "Caravaggio (1571-1610): Paintings from the Collections of Italy and the Vatican" at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. From October 2013 through January 2014, the Vatican Museums hosted an exhibition called "Precious antiquities: The Profane Museum at the time of Pius VI" with the support of Russia's State Hermitage.
From November 2016 through March 2017, Moscow hosted an exhibition called "Roma Aeterna: Masterpieces from the Vatican Pinacotheca: Bellini, Raphael, Caravaggio."
In November, 2018, the Vatican Museums hosted a reciprocal exhibition of masterpieces from Russian museums called "The Pilgrimage of Russian Art: From Dionysius to Malevich," which showcased the works of the 19th century Russian painters, as well as ancient Russian icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum and a number of regional museums.
In addition to interstate cooperation between Russia and the Vatican, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church are actively expanding their dialogue.
On February 12, 2016, a meeting between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis made history in Havana. The meeting marked the first encounter in history between a Roman Catholic pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch in the nearly 1,000 years since Eastern Orthodoxy split with Rome.
On April 14, 2018, Patriarch Kirill held a telephone conversation with Pope Francis, during which they discussed the situation in Syria, and the need for Christians to influence the situation in that country in order to end the violence and prevent further human losses. The parties also agreed to continue the constructive dialogue.
From April 10-13, 2019, Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, visited the Vatican to establish contacts with the Roman Catholic Church in the information and public spheres.
