Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Vladimir Putin test each other's grips, March 13, 2007.
Photo: AP
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Partners in Christ
// Vladimir Putin visits the Holy of Holies
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited another country yesterday, the Vatican, as part of his Italian visit ad exchanged gifts with Pope Benedict XVI. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov watched as the two heads of state found their common language – German.
I didn't expect the Swiss Guard at the Papal Palace in the Vatican to act like the Swiss do in a good Italian hotel. When we crossed the Basilica of St. Clement with Sister Giovanna, a division of them came at us from the opposite door marching silently, lances atilt. I thought the plans had changed and we were going to meet the head of the Pope's security service (at best) instead of the Pope himself. What was my sin? The people here should know better than anyone else. The worst thing I did that day was not tuning off my cell phone. The guard division march all the way up to us, saluted, and accompanied us to the next room. It was just that they so rarely meet outsiders that they try to show them the greatest possible honors.
In the next room, on huge marble tables, were two Bibles that measured about a meter by a meter. Sister Giovanna explained that one was new, published about 1300, and the other was old.
At the same time, Bishop Harvey met the Russian president and members of the Russian delegation in the courtyard of the residence and they took an elevator up to the second floor, where we were. The procession moved from room to room toward us looking slow and sad. So I was surprised to see that they were all really very cheerful. President Putin, listening to the bishop with one ear, was attentively looking in the other direction, as if memorizing the scene. He had actually been here once before, when he met John Paul II (who did not live long after that meeting), and probably nothing had changed here since then, nor in the last thousand years,
Members of the delegation trailing behind the president were as happy to see the journalists as if they were long-lost relatives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was most amazed to see that the tiny contingent of Russian journalists (there were three of us) was finally well dressed. He obviously didn't think that was possible even in this setting. Presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko seemed to disapprove of journalists being in such a holy place at all.
The president was separated from the delegation before the entrance to the Papal library and approached the Pope, who appeared through the doors to the library wearing a short crimson cloak, alone.
They shook hands, stood in front of the cameras and then went into the library. The president didn't need a translator because the Pope knows German. They talked in that language for 40 minutes.
They parted. judging from the looks of things, friends. In any case, the Pope looked satisfied. He looked at Putin with an expression of… what would you call it? It was the same expression with which former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (who was testifying in an Italian court on charges of tax evasion that day) listened to the president. The new prime minister, Romano Prodi, looks at him differently. He tries to hide his adoration.
The members of the Russian delegation were introduced to the Pope at lightning speed. Putin introduced them and they shook the Pope's hand. Only the president's press secretary Alexey Gromov stayed close to the Pope. The president told the Pope a funny story about him. That was understood because the president's laugh rang through the library.
Then the gift exchange began. Putin brought the Pope two volumes of the Catholic Encyclopedia in Russian, which gave concise answers to all the question of interest to a person. Later, Lavrov made an interesting note as he passed by the books: they were two copies of the same volume, not two volumes of one work. The Pontiff was also present an Orthodox icon.
The Pope gave Putin a 17th-century engraving. He explained that it was a depiction of the Vatican made n Germany. One bishop noted that the engraving showed a stone wall that was never really built because “the Church never had the money.”
“But one of the best streets in Rome arose in its place!” the bishop said jovially.
The bishop spoke Russian badly, but the president understood. The Pope did not, however. He was silent for a long while, then he said to the president quietly in German, “I don't know if that's a good gift or not, to be honest.”
After the guests left, the Pope allowed the journalists to greet him. He had a wide palm and strong grip. That news, I think, should make Catholic readers happy.
Andrey Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 14, 2007
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