Abstract
Abstract On June 10, 1988, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the secretary of state of the Holy See, addressed a glittering celebration in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater marking the millennium of Christianity among the eastern Slavs. The cardinal brought the personal greetings of Pope John Paul II to Patriarch Pimen and his Holy Synod, and offered congratulations to the government of Mikhail Gorbachev for its new appreciation of the role of Christian believers in the process of perestroika. Three days later, on June 13, Gorbachev met with Cardinal Casaroli and his entourage and was presented with a private letter from John Paul II, which the pope had given Casaroli in the hope that Gorbachev would receive it. On June 16, Msgr. Audrys Bačkis, a member of the Vatican delegation to Moscow and undersecretary of the Vatican’s foreign ministry, told Vatican Radio that Mr. Gorbachev had responded positively to the pope’s suggestion that “regular contacts” (meaning diplomatic relations) be established between the Kremlin and the Holy See, as indeed they were following Gorbachev’s 1989 visit to Rome.
Published Version
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