Gorbachev Vows Religious Freedom for Soviets : Vatican: Diplomatic ties will be established, and the Kremlin leader asks Pope John Paul II to visit his country.

Mikhail S. Gorbachev pledged in a historic meeting with Pope John Paul II today that the Soviet Union will guarantee freedom of religion at home and establish diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

Joaquin Navarro, a Vatican spokesman, said that Gorbachev also invited the Pope to visit the Soviet Union and that John Paul thanked him and expressed the hope that developments will allow him to make the trip.

The beaming Pope welcomed today’s visit--the first between a Kremlin chief and Roman Catholic pontiff--as a “promise-filled sign for the future” and pledged support for Gorbachev’s attempt to reform Soviet society.

After the meeting, Gorbachev told a news conference that a freedom of conscience law will soon be adopted in the Soviet Union.

“People of many confessions, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and others live in the Soviet Union. All of them have a right to satisfy their spiritual needs,” Gorbachev said.

The Soviet leader also said the Vatican and Moscow had reached agreement in principle to give “official status to our interstate relations” with the details to be worked out by diplomats. The Pope has long sought to re-establish relations with the Soviets, broken since the Russian Revolution.

Departing from his prepared text, Gorbachev said: “We discussed a future papal visit.” John Paul has frequently expressed the wish to visit the Soviet Union, provided he can meet with his flock all over the country, including Lithuania and the Ukraine.

The Pope has disclosed on two occasions that he had been barred from visiting Lithuania, the Roman Catholic stronghold in the Soviet Union.

Navarro did not provide a date for such a trip. “I don’t know when, but certainly the Pope will be going some day,” Navarro told reporters.

Earlier, as Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, entered the Apostolic Palace, they were greeted by bemedaled Vatican dignitaries and received a salute from a detachment of Swiss Guards.

Mrs. Gorbachev’s red dress raised eyebrows at the Vatican where protocol normally calls for women to wear dark dresses. But she seemed at ease as she toured the palace and asked questions about its artworks.