Pope Francis will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during a private audience on November 25 in their first encounter since Francis was elected, the Vatican and Kremlin offices confirmed.
President Putin has recently been defending Christianity both domestically and internationally, most notably in his vocal defence of persecuted Christians in Syria as well as in preventing escalation of the Syrian conflict after a chemical weapons attack in August.
Relations between Russia and the Vatican have been strained since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia has accused the Catholic Church of trying to poach believers from the Russian Orthodox Church, a charge the Vatican denies.
Vladimir Putin, who has met Francis’ two immediate predecessors, could ease the tensions and invite him to visit Russia, diplomatic sources said. "In principle, I don’t see any obstacle for such a meeting," Moscow’s Catholic Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said in an interview with the Komersant daily. "However, according to the Russian Orthodox Church this meeting should be carefully prepared to have a substance, not to be just for the record," Pezzi added.
A spokesman for the Orthodox Church said that despite some common concerns, the time was not yet ripe for a meeting between Patriarch and Pope. Fr Alexei Dikarev, of the External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, said: "We are prepared to co-operate with the Roman Catholic Church in the area of culture and ethics, we share the same opinion on the conflict in Syria. However, we are not preparing a meeting of the heads of both Churches at the moment," said.
Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II had standing invitations to visit Russia from the Kremlin but could not go because they received no matching invitation from the Orthodox Church. Francis would need the same to go to Russia.
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