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Vatican City, 7th June 2005 (CNA)
- A delegation of the Russian Federation
headed by its Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergei
Lavrov, visited the Holy See this Tuesday and, for
the first time, officially invited a Vatican top
official to visit the country.
Minister Lavrov, who has accompanied by
Vitaly Litvin, Russian Ambassador to the Holy See,
met with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of
State and Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Secretary
for Relations with States.
According to the Press Office Director
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, “In the course of the
meeting there was an exchange of viewpoints on
bilateral relations between the Holy See and
Russia and on the international situation, with
particular regard to the dialogue between cultures
and to collaboration within international
organizations.”
“The meeting, “according to Navarro-Valls,
“underscored the existing cordial relations and
the possibility of further developing them. To
this end, Minister Lavrov invited Archbishop
Lajolo to Moscow next autumn."
The late Pope John Paul tried to visit
Moscow on several occasions but always faced the
staunch opposition of the Russian Orthodox
leaders, who still accuse the Catholic Church of
“proselytism” within what they consider as
“canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox
Church.” |
