EXCLUSIVE: Pope Francis ‘pleased’ with Card Parolin’s
‘constructive’ visit to Russia
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| Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin (R) meets with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during his trip to Russia.- EPA |
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican
Secretary of State, is just returned from a 4-day state visit to Russia, with
which he says Pope Francis is “pleased”.
In an exclusive interview with Vatican media on Friday,
Cardinal Pietro Parolin reviewed his state visit to Russia this week, pointing
out its highlights and the issues as yet unresolved between the Holy See and
the Russian Federation.
Pope Francis ‘pleased’ with Parolin’s visit
Cardinal Parolin said he briefed Pope Francis immediately
upon his return to the Vatican on Thursday.
He said the Pope “was pleased with the impressions and
positive results which I shared with him.”
“The Pope as we know – and as he repeated also in this
instance – is very, very attentive to all possible occasions for dialogue. He
is very attentive to evaluating all existing occasions for dialogue, and he is
very happy when steps forward are made in this direction,” he said.
Cardinal Parolin said he relayed the many greetings he was
asked to give the Pope “from all the people I met, including the warmth and
closeness of the Catholic community… and the fraternal greetings of Patriarch
Kirill.”
‘Constructive, positive visit’
The Vatican Secretary of State said he thought the outcome
of the trip was “substantially positive”.
Cardinal Parolin met with civil authorities, including
President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov, as well as with
Russian Orthodox leaders Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion.
These meetings, he said, “were truly characterized by a
cordial, listening, and respectful climate. I would define them as important
and constructive encounters.”
During his meeting with Mr. Lavrov, Cardinal Parolin brought up the
needs of the local Catholic Church, especially the need for several churches
confiscated by the Communist regime to be returned. He said the local Catholic
community needs these churches in order to provide “adequate places of
worship”.
Relations with Russian Orthodox Church
Cardinal Parolin told Vatican media his meeting with
Patriarch Kirill took place in “the new climate established in recent years”,
beginning with the 2016 meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in
Havana, Cuba.
“We spoke a little about this new climate or atmosphere,
which permeates the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic
Church,” he said.
Cardinal Parolin said his Orthodox interlocutors were
“touched by the faith and religiosity of the people” on display as the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra visited Moscow and St.
Petersburg. Some 2.5 million people visited the relics before they were
returned to Bari in Italy.
“It was underlined how even many Russians, who belong to the
Orthodox tradition but do not practice, in this occasion have moved closer to
the Church.”
Other topics discussed, he said, were ways of taking
advantage of this new climate to further improve relations and collaborate on
cultural, academic, and humanitarian issues. He said both parties greatly
insisted on the need for the two Churches to carry out “incisive and
efficacious humanitarian works” in the many situations of conflict around the
world.
“Slightly thorny issues were also touched, respectfully and
at the same time frankly, regarding relations between the two Churches. But, we
tried to give them – at least in my opinion, what I was able to glean – a
positive sense, that is, to explore common paths for dealing with and for
seeking to give birth to a solution to these problems.”
Situation in Ukraine
Turning to the situation in Ukraine, Cardinal Parolin said
that, “for now, there is no news; perhaps, it is premature”.
“If there are seeds of good, which we have sought to sow,”
he said, “we hope the Lord will make them sprout and bring them to fruition.”
He said the “Ukrainian question” is of “great concern for
the Holy See”.
“The Pope has pronounced on this theme several times. It’s
obvious that it could not be ignored, this theme; it couldn’t be forgotten in
that circumstance. Above all, I would [speak] of the need to try to see and to
evaluate if there were some concrete steps that could be made towards a durable
and just solution to the conflict, within the instruments currently available,
which are practically the Agreement between the two Parties. It has been noted
that the Holy See has insisted above all on the humanitarian aspects, beginning
with the important initiative of the Pope for Ukraine. In this sense, for
example, one theme is that of the liberation of prisoners. This is one
humanitarian theme that could be truly important to giving a little impetus to
the whole process, even the political one, in order to get out of this
situation of stasis and to advance – for example –the theme of a truce or
ceasefire, the theme of security conditions in the territory, and the theme of
the political conditions necessary to make progress on a global solution.”
Meeting with President Putin
Cardinal Parolin said his meeting with President Putin in Sochi on Wednesday was
“a cordial encounter”. He said the two men discussed the conflicts in the
Middle East, especially in Syria, and the presence of Christians there. Both
Russia and the Holy See, he said, are particularly interested in the theme of
persecution of Christians and other minorities.
They also discussed the situations in Ukraine and Venezuela,
both of which Cardinal Parolin also discussed with Foreign Minister Lavrov on
Tuesday.
Cardinal Parolin said he presented the Russian president
with “several situations of some difficulty for the Catholic community.” His
main point, he said, was the desire to transmit the important role Russia has
to play in promoting peace.
“Russia, for its geographical position, its history, its
culture, and its past, present, and future, has an important role to play in
the international community and in the world. Therefore, it has a particular
responsibility regarding peace: both the country and its leaders have a great
responsibility to build peace, and they must truly strive to put the higher
interests of peace above all other interests.”
Highlights of visit
Finally, Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin highlighted
three moments, which he found especially touching.
The first, he said, “was the beautiful moment of the Mass
celebrated with the Catholic community. The Cathedral was packed full of
people, and that was somewhat of a surprise since it was a weekday”. He also
said he was touched “by the faith and devotion” of the people and by their
“attachment to the Pope”.
Second was his brief visit to the sisters of Mother Teresa
in Moscow. “We were able to meet and greet all the people they assist, and even
there the warmth they have the for the Pope was evident.”
Lastly, he mentioned his visit to the Orthodox Cathedral of
Christ the Savior in Moscow one evening.
“The cathedral had been blown up during the Communist
regime. So it was also a moment to recall this painful history, during which
some people wanted completely to uproot the faith from the heart of the people
and eliminate any sign of the presence of God and the Church in that land.”
This attempt, he said, “did not succeed, because God is
greater than the projects of men.”
(Devin Sean Watkins)
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