Vatican’s top diplomat begins visit to Russia as European leaders flock to Kyiv

(OSV News) — Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, arrived in Moscow Aug. 24 for a four-day visit, with meetings scheduled with Russian government, Orthodox and Catholic leaders.

The visit, announced by the Vatican Secretariat of State on X, comes as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine and as European leaders flocked to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to show their solidarity on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day Aug. 24.

Archbishop Gallagher is scheduled to return to Rome Aug. 28. The trip follows a series of diplomatic meetings by Vatican officials, including Archbishop Gallagher, only weeks earlier in Ukraine.

A five-day visit July 17-21 as Pope Leo XIV’s envoy to celebrations commemorating the 35th anniversary of the renewal of structures of the Latin-rite Church in Ukraine was capped by Archbishop Gallagher meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In Moscow, he is not scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin. On Aug. 25, Archbishop Gallagher is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate. The following day, he will meet Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Russian President Putin.

“The schedule confirms the Holy See’s determination to continue along the path of dialogue, even at one of the most difficult moments in international relations at the global level,” Vatican News said.

On Aug. 27, he will meet clergy and religious and celebrate Mass at Moscow’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He also is scheduled to meet the country’s Catholic bishops.

Archbishop Gallagher’s visit also will include meetings with Russia’s small and geographically dispersed Catholic community. The Catholic Church in Russia includes the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow and the dioceses of St. Clement in Saratov, the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk and St. Joseph in Irkutsk, as listed by Vatican News.

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham and a dozen other European leaders headed to Kyiv to show their support for Ukraine.

“For Ukraine, independence is not an abstract idea. We defended it against all odds,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media, The Associated Press reported. “In times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies by your side.”

Archbishop Gallagher’s mission to Moscow is not his first one. During a November 2021 trip, he met Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Lavrov and Metropolitan Hilarion, then head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Vatican News said.

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