Papal envoy goes to Moscow

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32540, 25 February 1971, Page 11

Papal envoy goes to Moscow

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—-Copyright) MOSCOW, February 24. A relaxation in the traditionally bitter relations between Moscow and the Vatican could be the long-term result of the first official visit to the Soviet Union by a Papal envoy, which began today.

Pope Paul’s “foreign minister,” Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, has come to Moscow, ostensibly to declare formally the Vatican’s adherence to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But a far more historic part of his visit could be his talks with Soviet Union officials, who will probably include the Foreign Minister (Mr Andrei Gromyko), who called last year on Pope Paul. Moscow today credits the Roman Catholic Church with having an interest in world peace and development, and ’t is no longer lumped together with the bogy of imperialism.

„.P”? ?j.’P marked contrast Soviet Union hostility towards religion, and especially those faiths which span the Soviet Union s borders, such as Roman Catholicism and Judaism.

The position of Russia’s small Roman Catholic minority has eased over the years since the post-war purges, but foreign observers in Moscow have the impression that it is a slower process than for the larger orthodox community.

Under the Soviet Union Constitution, freedom of religious belief is guaranteed, but believers face strict limitations on propagating their beliefs.

Archbishop Casaroli, who is 56 and whose official title is Secretary of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, is likely to discuss the position of Russian Roman Catholics.

The Kremlin may be keen to win Vatican favour over the Communist-initiated call for a European security conference. An A.A.P.-Reuter correspondent in Rome reports that in choosing his envoy, Pope Paul underlined the importance he attaches to the nuclear pact, and to relations with the Soviet Union. Archbishop Casaroli negotiated the 1964 “modus vivendi” between the Vatican and Hungary in 1964, and also later negotiated agreements which led to the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with Jugoslavia, the only Communist government, apart from Cuba, to have such ties with the Vatican.