Stefano Leszczynski – Vatican City
From August 24 to 28, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, will visit Moscow. During his stay in the Russian capital, meetings are scheduled with representatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation, the Moscow Patriarchate, and the Catholic community.
These will be four intensive days of talks and meetings, during which the diplomatic dimension of the journey will be accompanied by an ecclesiastical dimension: meetings with bishops and the Catholic community in the Russian Federation. An important element of the mission will also be the ecumenical dimension associated with meetings with representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The program of the visit confirms the Holy See’s willingness to continue along the path of dialogue, even during one of the most difficult periods for international relations in the world.
Not the first visit to Moscow
This is not Archbishop Gallagher’s first trip to the Russian capital. He last visited Moscow in November 2021. At that time, he met with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the then Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev.
Since 2022, the Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations has been headed by Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk), who succeeded Metropolitan Hilarion.
Meeting with Catholics in Russia
Alongside diplomatic meetings, the trip will be an opportunity for Archbishop Gallagher to meet with the Catholic community in Moscow. The Secretary for Relations with States will hold talks with bishops and representatives of the local community, preside over the Eucharist, and meet with the clergy, religious sisters, and brothers.
The Catholic Church in Russia is a relatively small community scattered over a vast territory. Its structures include the Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow and the Dioceses of St. Clement at Saratov, the Transfiguration at Novosibirsk, and St. Joseph at Irkutsk.
