Medvedev to have audience with Pontiff.

ROME, December 3 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev will have an
audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican for the first
time this Thursday, Itar-Tass learnt from the Russian president's aide
Sergei Prikhodko. The audience will last around one hour.
The sides "will possibly speak in a broad context without details of
consonant approaches of Russia and the Vatican to the most pressing
international issues, mutual understanding between various cultures and
regions and cooperation in the humanitarian sphere," Prikhodko enumerated
topics of the meeting. He called Afghanistan, Iran, the Middle East and
security in Europe among international problems, agitating the two sides.
Russian experts suggested on the eve of the meeting between Medvedev
and the Pontiff that the president would not touch on the topic of the
Pope's visit to Russia. "The church is separated from the state in our
country. Therefore, it is not fitting for the secular leader to discuss
such questions in the absence of the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church," a source told Itar-Tass.
According to the source, "Russian-Vatican relations are becoming less
politicised than they were during the time of John Paul II; inter-church
relations are assuming more open nature".
The architectural complex in the Italian city of Bari was handed over
to Russia this year, which also creates a good atmosphere for the
development of relations. "Under these conditions, chances for contacts at
the top church level are rising, time works in this direction," the expert
noted. According to the source, the development of relations with the
Vatican is possible, above all, on humanitarian questions". The more so,
since development of interstate relations is always accompanied by an
inter-church dialogue.
Prikhodko added that the Russian president would also meet secretary
of state (cabinet head) Tarcisio Bertone in the Vatican.
The Russian presidents have repeatedly met the Popes. For instance
Boris Yeltsin visited the Vatican in 1991 and 1998; he had meetings with
John Paul II. Vladimir Putin also met John Paul II twice in 2000 and 2003,
while in 2007, he had an audience with the present Pontiff.
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