Vatican officially announces its Secretary of State’s visit to Russia
The Vatican has officially announced that Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Patrolin will visit Russia, the press service of the Holy See reported.
“From August 21 to 24, 2017, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, will visit Russia at the government’s invitation. The goal of the visit will be to meet with the country’s leadership as well as the high clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the document states.
As the announcement indicates, on August 21, Cardinal Parolin will meet with the Russian Catholic bishops, and will also hold a Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary in Moscow. On the same day, he is scheduled to meet with Volokolamsk Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
On August 22, the Vatican Secretary of State will have a business meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will also visit Cyril, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus. On august 23, Pietro Parolin will go to Sochi, where he expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The cardinal will return to Rome the following day.
Vatican experts stress that the 62 year-old prelate is not only the second person after the pontiff in the church hierarchy, but also one of the most experienced Vatican diplomats. He has worked in the Vatican’s representative offices in African and Latin American countries, and been involved in the most difficult negotiations with respect to the Vatican and Vietnam, China, North Korea and Israel. Parolin is considered a representative of the school of Cardinals Casaroli and Silvestrini, the Vatican’s two greatest diplomats of the post-war epoch.
Going against tradition, Pope Francis appointed Parolin Secretary of State on August 2013, while Parolin only had the rank of Archbishop. The diplomat was only granted the red cardinal’s mantle in February 2014. Parolin has been awarded the highest state decorations of Italy, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Romania and Bulgaria. Aside from his native Italian, he can speak English, French, Spanish and Latin.