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Putin to Meet Pope in March
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Pope Benedict XVI on March 13, the France Presse news agency reported Thursday.
The meeting with Vladimir Putin is on the Pope’s schedule, but the exact date will depend on whether the Russian leader will meet Italy’s outgoing prime minister Romano Prodi or not, the Holy See said Thursday. The Italian prime minister handed in his resignation Wednesday after losing the parliament’s vote on the foreign policy.
A source in the Russian foreign ministry confirmed the information, saying that Putin would meet the Pope on March 13 if he went to a summit in Bari, southern Italy.
This will be Putin’s first visit to tge Vatican since Benedict XVI’s rise to the papacy. The meeting might be a sign of improved relations between the Catholics and the Russian Orthodox Church, analysts say.
www.kommersant.com
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