Diplomatic relations between Holy See and Russia. Over a thousand years of mutual consideration (Alexei Judin) 
See also: The Pope's ambassador to Cuba: "I hope that they continue to multiply the concrete signs of opening to the exercise of religious freedom, as has happened in recent years, for example, the possibility of celebrating Mass in some prisons, the holding of processions religiose, il restauro e la restituzione di alcuni templi e la costruzione di case religiose, o il poter contare sulla sicurezza sociale da parte dei sacerdoti e dei religiosi. Così la comunità cattolica svolgerà più agilmente il suo specifico compito pastorale" (Discorso)
Un merlo bianco nei giardini del Papa. L'animaletto immortalato dalla macchina fotografica di uno dei segretari di Benedetto XVI (Osservatore Romano) I vescovi irlandesi chiedono perdono per gli abusi sessuali. Domani ricevuti dal Papa (Izzo) Il Papa: Se Dio sparisce, l’umanità rischia di distruggere itself (AsiaNews) The controversy between the league and Tettamanzi has been said too much but not all (Source). A reflection "cold" Pope's letter to the card. Bagnasco, "God, the central question for our time" (Sir) The Pope at Sulmona July 4 for the eighth centenary of the birth of Celestine V (Civitareale) Conference on Cei "God question." Cardinal Ruini: Italy more Christian than what the media says (Radio Vaticana) Cuba, the Pope: the embargo hurts yet, but relations with the U.S. improve. Implement religious freedom by allowing more churches (Izzo) The Pope Cardinal. Bagnasco: "The question of God is central to our age, which often tends to reduce man to a single dimension, the horizontal one, considering irrelevant to his life open to the Transcendent" (Letter )
The contribution of Catholics to the development of the company at the center of the Pope with President of Gabon (Vatican Radio) Ireland: mea culpa of bishops on abuse, meeting with the Pope tomorrow (Bandini) curia in Milan is a Professor who works for hybridization with Islam (Meotti) Benedict XVI Cuban ambassador: progress in the area of \u200b\u200breligious freedom ' Island. The thaw with the U.S. a chance for progress (RV) The conference on "God today. With him or without him, everything changes": the special "Il Foglio" Handbook Vatican for the priests-star. "Remember, you are not priests tronista of TV" (Gale) Pedophilia, the Irish bishops apologize. Entries dimissioni di alcuni prelati dopo l'incontro con il Papa Domani i vescovi irlandesi dal Papa per informarlo sugli abusi di alcuni sacerdoti. Incontro voluto da Benedetto XVI in persona (Sir) Le pressioni di Papa Ratzinger per favorire uno «sviluppo solidale» (bellissimo articolo di Accattoli) Segnalazione "Nuove Edizioni dei Libri Liturgici per la Forma Straordinaria del Rito Romano (1962) Discorso del Papa in Piazza di Spagna, presto confronto fra direttori delle reti Rai contro il sensazionalismo (Asca) Appello del Papa sulla Convenzione contro le mine antipersona (Osservatore Romano via Zenit) Un mondo d’intolleranza: dilaga la cristianofobia (Geninazzi) Discorso del Papa in Piazza di Spagna: il commento di Carlo Marroni Per ridurre il global warming c'è chi pensa alla pianificazione delle nascite (Gianfranco Amato) «Ribellione, divisione, dissenso, offesa, anarchia». Il Papa ricorda i venticinque anni dalla condanna della «teologia della liberazione» (Introvigne) Pope: "In the city they live - or survive - invisible people, who occasionally jump on the front page or on television, and are exploited to the last, until the news image attract attention. E ' a perverse mechanism, which unfortunately is hard to resist. The city first hide and then exposes to the public. No mercy, or a false piety. Instead, there is in every man's desire to be accepted as a person and considered a sacred reality because all human history is a sacred story, and demands the greatest respect " (act of veneration to Mary Immaculate)
The words of the Pope and the difficulty of seeking the common good (Aldo Grasso) Pope Ratzinger among the top-20 of Foreign Policy (Missionline) Islam, Cardinal. Bertone Al Jazeera: A wish for peace and peaceful coexistence and solidarity for all (Reuters) The Pope at the hearing: "God's kindness and patience toward sinful man" (Izzo) Diplomatic relations between Holy See and Russia Over a thousand years of mutual consideration Alexei Judin
University Humanities in Moscow
The starting point in the development of current relations between the Holy See and Russia can be considered a reason the year 1990 changes in the political and social life in Russia during perestroika and the penultimate year of existence of the USSR . That year was between the parties reached an agreement to give an official character to the Vatican-Soviet relations. This historic decision was made possible by another historic event: the meeting between Pope John Paul II and the USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev. During this meeting at the Vatican on 1 December 1989, just days after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Gorbachev officially invited John Paul II to visit the Soviet Union.
History of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Holy See, however, goes back much further back, to the origins of the existence of the Russian state. The Chronicles of the same year that witnessed the Baptism of Rus' (988), the Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir received some papal legates. Contacts between the Rus' in Moscow and the Holy See took stability since mid-fourteenth century, and just through them in 1472 an event took place fraught with serious consequences for Russian history, the marriage of Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow and Byzantine Princess Sophia (Zoe), niece of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus. The Wedding of Sophia, educated at the Roman court, were proposed and blessed by Pope Paul II. Ambassadors Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII visited Moscow regularly. A central episode in relations between Moscow and the Vatican at the time of Ivan IV was the diplomatic mediation of the Holy See in the Livonian War (1558-1583), which together with Russia were involved Poland and Sweden. Thanks to the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, Ambassador of the Holy See, in January 1583 a peace treaty was concluded between the kingdom and the Moscow Rzeczpospolita.
A novelty introduced in relations between Russia and the Holy See at the time of Peter, who twice qualified sent ambassadors to Rome (1698 and 1707), and even more under Catherine II: in fact, after the first partition of Poland ( 1772) and the creation Catholic Archdiocese of Mogilev, it became necessary to adjust the position of the Catholic Church in the Russian Empire. To these problems was when the activity of the apostolic nuncio in Warsaw and tied bows John (1783-1784). Subsequent changes in the situation of Catholic dioceses in Russia and other urgent issues contributed to the continuation of contacts between the Holy See and Russia during the reign of Paul I Alexander I (the missions of the Nuncio Lorenzo Litta, 1797-1799, dell'incaricato d 'business pro tempore John Welcome, 1799-1803, and the nuncio Tommaso Arezzo, 1803-1804). However, some political problems led to the expulsion of the nuncio Litta and Arezzo, and up to 1816 diplomatic contacts between Russia and the Holy See were interrupted. From July 1816 between the two states for the first time were established full diplomatic relations. The Russian Empire to the Holy See was represented from 1816 to 1864 by authoritative Russian diplomats, but they failed to establish a diplomatic mission to St. Petersburg symmetric. In addition, personal representatives of the Popes always took part coronation of Russian emperors: Archbishop Lorenzo Litta at the coronation of Paul I (1797), Thomas Bernetti to that of Nicholas I (1826), Flavio Chigi at the coronation of Alexander II (1855), Vincenzo Vannutelli to that of Alexander III (1881).
In 1845 Tsar Nicholas I visited Rome and met Pope Gregory XVI. An important result of this meeting was the Concordat signed on August 3 1847 between the Holy See and Russia, which undertook the first attempt to normalize the situation in inter-state level of the Catholic Church in the empire. However, the political consequences of the 1863-1864 Polish uprising in the Russian Empire in 1866 led to the termination of the Concordat and diplomatic relations between the Holy See in its entirety and Russia. After lengthy negotiations in the decades 1870-1880, diplomatic relations were restored in 1894: settled in Rome was a Russian representation, but again they failed to solve the problem of opening a diplomatic mission of the Holy See in St. Petersburg. After the February Revolution and the collapse of the Russian monarchy, the imperial diplomatic mission to the Holy See was replaced by a representative of the Provisional Government, which remained until 1922.
From 1921 to 1928 between representatives of Soviet Russia and the Holy See, there were no official contacts, during which were discussed the issues of de jure recognition by the Holy See of the Federative Soviet Republic and the regulation of the situation of the Catholic Church in Russia. But they did not give positive results.
Only since the mid-sixties the contacts between the Vatican and the Soviet Union became a regular thing to which he contributed in many respects the agreement reached in 1967, bringing the contacts to a "level of stable employment." In the sixties-eighties the Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko met several times with Paul VI and John Paul II during his visits to Italy. On January 30, 1967 Pope Paul VI at the Vatican received the President of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgornyj. In February 1971, a formal report at the Vatican in the Agreement does not spread of nuclear weapons, arrived in Moscow Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, secretary of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church.
The period of perestroika, especially after 1988 saw a remarkable dynamism in political contacts Soviet-Vatican. The presence at the solemn celebrations of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus' in 1988 of a very representative delegation of the Catholic Church, led by the same Casaroli, now cardinal Secretary of State, following the latter's meetings in Moscow and Archbishop Angelo Sodano, the then Secretary for Relations with States, with Gorbachev, the exchange of personal letters between Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II, the positive changes in religious life USSR led to the normalization of bilateral relations.
The meeting of 1989 was therefore a point of arrival, and also the cornerstone on which they began to build the new architecture of the Vatican-Russian relations. On 15 March 1990, the parties agreed to set up representations of officers, headed, respectively, an apostolic nuncio and ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The first official representative of the Holy See in the USSR, and later in Russian Federation, was the Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno (1990-1994), for the Soviet Union to the Holy See was appointed Ambassador Yury Karlov (1990-1995). After Karlov, Russia was represented by Vyacheslav Kostikov (1995-1996), Gennady Uranov (1996-2001) and Vitaly Litvin (2001-2005). Since 2005, the diplomatic mission is led by Nikolay Sadchikov.
At the time of his appointment to Moscow was apostolic nuncio Archbishop Colasuonno with special responsibilities and Head of the Delegation of the Holy See's permanent working contacts with the Republic of Poland. Arriving in Russia, he met with an immense number of problems for which there were no ready-made answers. The Soviet Union was experiencing his last days, the political situation would change literally from week to week, as well as the religious situation. Meanwhile, with the celebrations of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus' in 1988, began the historic return of orthodoxy in the life of contemporary Russia. In 1990 the Soviet Union passed a new law "on freedom of conscience and religious organizations," which assured the representatives of all religious associations freedom hitherto unprecedented in the history of Russia. Russian Catholics enthusiastically set about to rebuild their church, almost completely destroyed by decades of persecution. In this context, the nuncio Colasuonno had the huge responsibility of taking appropriate and proactive decisions. First had to be settled the question of the reorganization of ecclesiastical structures, and after several months of intense work, April 16, 1991, the nuncio was able to announce the launch of three new apostolic administrations: European Centre for Russia in Moscow (Monsignor Kondrusiewicz) for Siberia with center at Novosibirsk (Bishop Werth), and Central Asia based in Karaganda in Kazakhstan (Archbishop Lenga). The end
policy of the USSR and the emergence of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, at the end of 1991, restrained the pace of development in relations between the Holy See and Russia. In December 1991 the Holy See officially recognized the new democratic Russia and declares its readiness to continue with it "official reports e amichevoli". I rappresentanti diplomatici designati nel 1990 conservano le proprie cariche, e tra i due Stati si instaura la prassi di regolari consultazioni bilaterali al vertice. Il 20 novembre 1991 il presidente Eltsin visita in Vaticano Giovanni Paolo II. Tema principale del colloquio sono le questioni legate alla libertà religiosa nella nuova Russia. Al tempo stesso le due parti dimostrano interesse a sviluppare una collaborazione, allo scopo di rafforzare la cooperazione internazionale ed europea, regolare conflitti internazionali e contribuire alla soluzione di fenomeni negativi come nazionalismo, razzismo, xenofobia, terrorismo e diseguaglianza sociale ed economica.
La missione diplomatica del successivo rappresentante della Santa Sede, l'arcivescovo John Bukowski (1994-2000), continued the general lines of the coordination activities for the rehabilitation of the Catholic Church in Russia. Meanwhile, in Russian domestic politics will highlight new trends, such as occurs in the context of a rethinking of the legal model of religious freedom in the country. In the summer of 1997 are presented to the Duma a new draft law "on freedom of conscience and religious associations", in stark contrast to the fundamental propositions of the 1990 Act, which essentially limits the legal guarantees of religious freedom for "organizations foreign religious. " Among others, the Russian Catholics make arguments criticizing the Duma, and their position is supported by Pope John Paul II, who wrote personally to President Yeltsin to offer him the concern of the Holy See, as some articles of the new bill are contrary to the commitments assumed by Russia at the international level. At first, even given the position of the Holy See, Yeltsin vetoes law passed in June 1997, but it is finally approved in September.
should be noted that the fervor of the discussions on the new law and even the personal intervention of Pope John Paul II does not hinder mutual trust in the evolution of Russian-Vatican relations. On 2 February 1998, the Pope and President Yeltsin met to discuss the situation politics and religion existing in Russia and the preparations for the Great Jubilee of 2000, as well as the problems of peace and the overcoming of crisis situations.
The mission of the Holy See representative in the Russian Federation was appointed Archbishop Georg Zur (2000-2002). It is not without a period of tension in the development of Catholic-Orthodox and the Vatican-Russian international contacts. On February 11, 2002 decision of the Holy See of the existing four apostolic administrations in Russia were transformed into the diocese. This crisis becomes a powerful stimulus for reflection on the overall relations with the Russian state bodies and especially the ways of developing dialogue with the Orthodox Church Russian.
You can not fail to note with satisfaction that even the events of 2002 apply to break the relationship between the Russian Federation and the Vatican. The first meeting between the new Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope John Paul II had occurred June 5, 2000 in the Vatican during one of his visits overseas. The second meeting between Putin and John Paul II takes place November 5, 2003. After the death of the Pope in his letter of condolence addressed to the Dean of the College of Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, John Paul II called Putin a "prominent personalities of our time" and will set out his pastoral ministry as "aimed at strengthening the spiritual and moral principles in human life. " The search for ways
out of the crisis of 2002 becomes the main task of the Holy See's diplomatic mission in Russia, whose direction is taken at the end of 2002 by Archbishop Antonio Mennini. The gradual restoration of confidence in the Catholic-Orthodox relations by working to find solutions to existing problems, the call to get legal guarantees for the activity of the Catholic Church in Russia, the development of political and diplomatic relations between Holy See and Russia in all spheres of common interest, are the priorities pursued in recent years by the Representation of the Holy See. At the same time, even the Vatican-Russian relations take on a new impetus. After the first meeting between Putin and the new Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican took place March 13, 2007, a statement from the Vatican Press Office defines the bilateral relationship as "cordial", and notes the desire of both sides to further develop them, in the cultural sphere.
During his visit to Moscow last March, the Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States Archbishop Dominique Mamberti said that the Holy See attaches great importance to relations with Russia and because Russia has a leading position plan as part of the geopolitical world, both for the correlation of positions of Russia and the Holy See on a range of issues in many international forums. " This convergence of positions can be seen from above the problems of world peace, cooperation among peoples and dialogue between cultures, to the problems of poverty and hunger, the preservation of life and family, the development of biogenetic research while respecting the dignity of the human person, from first moment of its existence.
In this light, the meeting on 3 December between President Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI is the logical conclusion of an entire phase of post-Soviet history of Russian-Vatican relations. A stage, opened twenty years ago with the historic meeting between Pope John Paul II and Gorbachev. The meeting last week undoubtedly marked the opening of new prospects for the twenty-first century and shows "the high level reached the dialogue between Russia and the Holy See, as well as between the Holy See and the Russian Orthodox Church, "as stated by spokesman of the Russian President Natalia Timakova. The decision to establish diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Russian Federation testifies to the awareness political and diplomatic co-operation of both parties. It therefore stands to the highest level, also compared on a number of important issues of common interest, on which Russia and the Holy See are in harmony. Raising the level of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Holy See is also a sign that even the official dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church has entered a new phase of friendly understanding and cooperation.
(© L'Osservatore Romano - 11 dicembre 2009)
