Cardinal Parolin and Foreign Minister Lavrov called this a sign of the two countries’ desire to continue to work together on bilateral relations and issues of international concern. Cardinal Parolin said he raised questions regarding the Catholic Church’s life and activity in Russia with his counterpart.
He said difficulties remaining between the Vatican and Russia include working residency permits for non-Russian personnel and the restitution of several churches necessary for the pastoral care of Catholics in the country.
International concerns
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov evoked the need for solutions for Christians living in the Middle East. We need to find similar solutions that would provide proper balance between different ethnic and religious groups in Yemen, Libya, and Iraq, where state-building processes are underway.
Cardinal Parolin said he recognized the difference in approaches between Russia and the Holy See on these issues. But he said the two share a strong concern for the situation of Christians in several countries of the Middle East and the African continent ... the Holy See nourishes constant concern that religious liberty be preserved in all States and in all political situations.
Venezuela
Responding to a question about the situation in Venezuela, Cardinal Parolin said he believes Russia can help to overcome this very difficult moment. He said Russia can promote the Vatican’s efforts to create dialogue between Venezuela’s government and the opposition.
This is the only solution the Holy See sees for an exit to this situation.
Cardinal Parolin meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi tomorrow.
Opening Remarks by His Excellency, Sergej Lavrov
Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Your Eminence,
Esteemed guests,
We are happy to meet with you during your visit to the Russian Federation. It is a good opportunity to carry on the dialogue which we began with Your Eminence in the Vatican in December 2016.
This is the first visit of Vatican’s Secretary of State to Russia in the current century. As you have told me now, this is also your very first visit to Russia. I hope you will be able to see how we live and what Moscow and our other cities, including Sochi, are like.
We are glad that our dialogue is developing dynamically, including at the top level. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has met with His Holiness Pope Francis twice over the past few years.
We see that our positions are close on a number of current issues, including the peaceful settlement of crises, fighting terrorism and extremism, promoting the dialogue among religions and civilisations and strengthening social justice and the role of the family.
We highly appreciate the projects aimed at practical cooperation in the areas of culture, humanitarian ties, science and education, as well as healthcare. We certainly consider it significant that interstate ties are complemented by the dialogue between religions, which was launched during the historical meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis in Cuba in February 2016.
The programme of your visit to Russia is sufficiently extensive to give us time for discussing all aspects of relations between the Russian Federation and the Vatican.
Your Eminence, we are happy to see you. Welcome.
Statement of His Eminence, Pietro Parolin
Vatican Secretary of State
at the Press Conference following the meeting
with the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Minister,
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have just finished the first, intense part of our conversations with Mister Minister Sergiey Lavrov, through whose person I express my gratitude to the Russian Authorities for the invitation and warm welcome in the country.
I have come to Moscow to be an interpreter for my interlocutors – today Minister Lavrov and tomorrow the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin –, of Pope Francis’ solicitude be it for the bilateral situation between the Holy See and the Russian Federation, be it for questions and concerns in the international realm.
In the bilateral relations, we have shared the satisfaction regarding development in several fields, beginning with the frequent contacts at the level of high representatives of both parties, and continuing with the review of positive experiences in the ambit of cultural exchanges and of cooperation between scientific and medical institutes. It goes without saying that both parties confirmed the intention to continue weaving contacts in all the above-mentioned realms also in the future. Attesting and confirming this intention was the signing of the Agreement between the Holy See State Secretariat and the Government of the Russian Federation, regarding the exemption of visas for holders of diplomatic passports, which we witnessed a short while ago together with Minister Lavrov.
Clearly, the conversation also offered the occasion to discuss some concrete questions regarding the life of the Catholic Church in the Russian Federation, among which were the difficulties still remaining of work permits for non-Russian religious staff and the restitution of some churches which are necessary for the pastoral care of Catholics in the country, finding in the interlocutor ample attention to the solution of these problems and the will to follow them.
In the field of questions of international interest I confirmed first of all that just and lasting solutions be found for the conflicts that afflict, in particular, the Middle East, Ukraine and several other regions of the world. If, in such dramatic situations the Holy See is more directly active in the effort to promote initiatives geared to alleviating the sufferings of the populations, at the same time it expresses a clear appeal to have the common good prevail, and primarily justice, legality, the truth of the facts and abstention from their manipulation, the safety and fitting conditions of life of the civilian populations. While the Holy See does not intend to and cannot identify itself with some of the political positions, it recalls the duty to hold rigorously to the great principles of international law, whose respect is essential be it to protect global order and peace, be it to recover a healthy atmosphere of mutual respect in international relations.
Among the subjects in which the Holy See and the Russian Federation find points of convergence, even if with different approaches, mention should be made first of all of the intense concern for the situation of Christians in some countries of the Middle East and of the African continent, as well as in some other regions of the world. In this connection, the Holy See nourishes the constant concern that religious freedom be preserved in every State and in every political situation.
I think that we will also to take up again these and other topics in the continuation of today’s meeting.
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