High-ranking Vatican official to meet with Putin’s adviser in Russia

The Vatican’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, will travel to Russia this week to hold meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as well as visit the country’s Catholic community.

The announcement was made by the Vatican Secretariat of State on its X account and was described by Vatican News as “a mission of dialogue and peace.”

According to the schedule, the first meeting will take place Aug. 25 with Lavrov. Subsequently, Gallagher will meet with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

On Wednesday, Aug. 26, Gallagher will meet with Ushakov, the foreign policy adviser to Putin. Vatican News noted that “the schedule confirms the Holy See’s determination to continue along the path of dialogue, even at one of the most difficult moments in international relations at the global level.”

The Vatican representative will visit the Catholic community on Aug. 27. Gallagher will first meet with clergy and religious and then celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of the…