Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, hailed progress in Catholic-Orthodox relations during an hour-long meeting last week.
The pair met at the president’s residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, according to the Vatican press office.
Mr Putin told the cardinal that he was “very pleased to see that the dialogue continues between our churches”. He said there was “no doubt that the common humanitarian values that the Holy See and the Russian Orthodox Church defend form the foundation for relations between the two churches and between Russia as a state and the Vatican”.
Cardinal Parolin told Mr Putin: “I see a new dynamic that has emerged over the recent months and years in relations between the two churches.
“I hope that all participants in this process will continue working in this direction in order to … bring us even closer together.”
A day earlier Cardinal Parolin had met Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. At a press conference they told reporters they had discussed conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, the Holy Land and Venezuela. The cardinal had called for Russia to use its close ties to Venezuela to help ease tensions there.
He said the meeting also offered a chance to discuss “difficulties that remain in obtaining work permits for non-Russian religious personnel and the restitution of some churches, which are needed for the pastoral care of Catholics in the country.”
According to published minutes, the minister told Cardinal Parolin that their positions were “close” on 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”.
On Tuesday Cardinal Parolin met Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The patriarch said he “greatly appreciated” the fact that they reached a “mutual understanding” about the churches’ role in the “reconciliation” of Ukraine.
Yemen priest ‘could be freed soon’
An Indian foreign minister has told Salesians that a priest kidnapped in Yemen more than a year ago is alive and could be freed soon, according to the Matters India website.
Sushma Swaraj told a delegation led by provincial Fr Joyce Thonikuzhilyil that she felt sympathy for the “unimaginable trauma and suffering” that Fr Tom Uzhunnalil has endured.
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