Vatican state secretary notes new level of intensity in dialogue with Minsk

23 June 2008, 11:14

Minsk, June 23, Interfax - Vatican State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone notes a new level of intensity in diplomatic relations between Belarus and the Vatican."

A beginning has been laid for positive diplomatic relations between Belarus and the Vatican," the cardinal said at a news conference in Minsk.

"Bilateral work has been launched to sign a basic agreement between the Holy See and Belarus," he also said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has sent an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to visit Belarus, he said, adding, "It is a very positive step."

The cardinal said that he had met with the country's top leaders and with the Foreign Ministry's senior officials. "It was a positive, fraternal dialogue. I brought a message from Pope Benedict XVI," he said.

Cardinal Bertone said he had had "a very good meeting in Minsk with the head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Filaret." "The visit was very positive and I will speak about that in an interview with the leading Vatican mass media," he said.

Relations between the Belarusian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus have been developing "very positively and aim to provide responses to the challenges of secularism," the cardinal said.

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