Pope Benedict XVI will receive Russian President Vladimir Putin in the afternoon of March 13. The information however has not been released by official sources in either the Vatican or Moscow.This will be Mr Putin’s first visit to the Vatican since Pope Benedict XVI’s election. The Russian President did meet John Paul II in 2000 and 2003, also in the Vatican, but unlike his predecessors Mikhail Gorbachev and Yeltsin Putin, he did not extend an invitation to the Pope to visit Moscow.
What the Russian leader will do in his meeting with Benedict XVI will depend largely on how the Russians will view improved relations between Catholics and the Moscow Patriarchate, which remains the real obstacle to any papal visit to Russia.
In Orthodox circles unconfirmed reports suggest that a Patriarchate official might be part of Putin’s delegation. According to the same source, this might be seen as a sign of improved relations between Rome and Moscow even if there is no invitation to the Pope.
In the almost two years since Benedict XVI’s pontificate began relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican have warmed considerably after the long frost that prevailed during John Paul II’s tenure. This situation was largely due to Orthodox accusations against the Catholic Church of proselytising, accusations which still persist, albeit not as intensely as before.
For many in the Vatican, such tension is viewed as one of the main factors explaining Russia’s religious laws. In 1990, under Gorbachev, a law had extended effective freedom to all religious groups.
In 1997 a new law limited that freedom to so-called ‘traditional’ religions and tried to block ‘non traditional’ religions. Despite the fact that the Church of Rome had been active in Russia since Tsarist times it was included in this group.
Often responding to pressures by the Orthodox, local authorities in Russia have made matter worse.
Tensions reached a crescendo in 2002 when Russian authorities refused to renew visas for Catholic priests who had been active in the country for years.
Putin, one of the few foreign heads of state not to attend John Paul II’s funeral, expressed in his message of best wishes to the newly-elected Pope a desire to “pursue a constructive political dialogue” with the Vatican.
Since then there have been some modest signs that relations between Rome and the Moscow Patriarchate are thawing. How significant they really are will be put to a test when Putin does comes visiting.
Baptised in the Orthodox faith, the Russian president has said that he is a man who can serve as mediator between the Churches.
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