The Vatican at Lavrov’s table

Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s representative for relations with states (a sort of foreign minister), began his mission to Russia today. He will remain there until 28 August on what is a public mission, complete with a schedule of appointments published on X: in the Vatican, given the capricious and not exactly transparent nature of the people he is to meet, they must have thought it best to let the whole world know in advance what Gallagher will be doing. Tomorrow he will meet the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Metropolitan Antonij of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. On Wednesday, the papal envoy will hold a private meeting with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s adviser on foreign policy. On Thursday, the programme is entirely devoted to meeting with the Russian Catholic communities in Moscow.

The last time Monsignor Gallagher set foot in the vast Euro-Asian country was in 2021, when talk of an invasion of Ukraine was circulating in some quarters and a significant proportion of European intellectuals (and certain sections of the press) scoffed at the idea that Putin might do what he subsequently did on 24 February 2022. Monsignor Gallagher’s visit is significant because it goes well beyond the narrative of the Vatican’s neutrality, which would seek to impose the same approach of dialogue on both Kyiv and Moscow. It is abundantly clear in Rome who is responsible for the situation. Indeed, the official accounts themselves have noted in recent hours that “this is the first time since the Russian attack on Ukraine that a senior representative of the Secretariat of State has visited Russia”. The outcome of these talks will be of the utmost interest, given that a month and a half ago, whilst the Kremlin was bombarding Kyiv, Gallagher himself – who was present there – told Zelensky that “the Holy See stands with Ukraine and fully supports its territorial integrity”. It remains to be seen whether someone might now ask him to account for this.