上周四，俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京與教皇方濟各在梵蒂岡會面，此舉表明俄羅斯政府與羅馬天主教會的關系進一步密切。

這次會面的時間定于教皇按照計劃在羅馬與烏克蘭東正教領導人討論該國沖突的前一天。由于基輔和莫斯科在烏克蘭東部戰爭上的緊張情緒，烏克蘭東正教在去年已經與俄羅斯東正教正式決裂。

梵蒂岡在網站發布的一份聲明稱，教皇和普京對于雙方關系的進展“表示滿意”。聲明指出，雙方探討了俄羅斯天主教會所扮演的角色，以及生態問題和國際問題，包括敘利亞、烏克蘭、委內瑞拉的局勢。

這是兩位領導人第三次會晤，上一次是在2015年。這位12億天主教徒的領袖曾經于2016年在古巴與俄羅斯東正教牧首基里爾進行過歷史性的會面。普京在為期一日的羅馬訪問中還將會見總理朱塞佩·孔特等意大利領導人。

從1054年基督教由于教義分歧而分裂成東西兩部分起，多個世紀以來，梵蒂岡和俄羅斯東正教會之間的關系都十分緊張。俄羅斯東征教會指責天主教徒試圖在1991年蘇聯解體后吸納他們的信徒，并阻止了若望·保祿二世實現長期以來訪問俄羅斯的愿望。

由于教義分歧和對烏克蘭基督徒的領導權爭議，俄羅斯東正教牧首與羅馬教皇從未進行過會面，這種情況直到古巴會面才出現改變。

克里姆林宮的外交政策顧問尤里·烏沙科夫在上周三表示，普京目前還沒有邀請方濟各訪問俄羅斯的計劃，該問題需要與東正教牧首共同考慮。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

President Vladimir Putin met Pope Francis in the Vatican on last Thursday, amid signs of closer ties between the Kremlin and the Roman Catholic Church.

The meeting came a day before the Pope is due to hold talks in Rome with leaders of Ukraine’s Greek-Catholic Church to discuss the conflict in that country. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church last year formally split from the Russian Orthodox Church amid tensions between Kiev and Moscow over the war in eastern Ukraine.

The Pope and Putin “expressed their satisfaction” at how ties are developing, the Vatican said in a website statement. They discussed the role of the Catholic Church in Russia as well as ecological issues and international affairs including the situation in Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela, according to the statement.

The meeting is the third between the two leaders, with the last one held in 2015. The head of 1.2 billion Catholics also had an historic encounter with Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba in 2016. Putin will also meet Italian leaders including Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during his one-day visit to Rome.

Ties have been strained for centuries between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church since the Great Schism of 1054 that split eastern and western Christianity over theological differences. The Russian Orthodox Church accused Catholics of trying to win converts following the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union, preventing John Paul II from fulfilling his long-held wish to travel to Russia.

Until the Cuba meeting, the head of the Russian Church had never met with the Roman pontiff because of doctrinal differences as well as arguments over the leadership of Ukrainian Christians.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on last Wednesday that Putin has no plans yet to invite Francis to make a visit to Russia, and that the question should be considered together with the patriarch.