Gorbachev Extends Invitation to Pope, Vows Diplomatic Ties

Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II swept away decades of hostility between Rome and Moscow on Friday, with the Soviet leader promising religious freedom at home, agreeing to diplomatic ties with the Vatican and inviting the pontiff to visit.

The first meeting between a Kremlin chief and a Pope was rich in both symbolism and concrete results. Gorbachev obtained a pledge from John Paul to support his perestroika reform policies.

Both men were beaming throughout most of the two-hour visit, clearly aware of what Gorbachev called a “truly extraordinary event” and the Polish-born Pope “a sign of the times . . . that is rich in promise.”

Gorbachev heightened the drama of the events by departing from his prepared text to disclose that he had invited the Pope to the Soviet Union, a country that historically has disparaged religion.

“I want to announce that we discussed a future visit of the Roman pontiff to the Soviet Union,” he said in Russian after the 70 minutes of private talks at an oak desk beneath a religious painting in John Paul’s library.

The Pope did not mention the trip in his public remarks. But a Vatican communique said he thanked Gorbachev for the invitation and voiced hope that developments will allow him to go.

John Paul has frequently spoken of his desire to travel to the Soviet Union, but on condition that he could visit his flock throughout the country. He has disclosed on two occasions that he had been barred from going to Lithuania, the Roman Catholic stronghold in the Soviet Union.

A Soviet trip has also been linked to the Pope’s ability to visit the Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Catholic Church was suppressed by Josef Stalin in 1946 and forcibly merged with the Russian Orthodox Church.

There are more than 4 million Catholics in the Ukraine who until recently practiced their faith clandestinely.

A major step toward legalizing the Ukrainian Catholic Church was announced Friday by a top local official in the Ukraine. Nikolai Kolesnik of the Soviet republic’s Council on Religious Affairs said from Kiev that regional officials have decided Ukrainian Catholics can register with authorities like other religious groups.

The Vatican statement said the Pope told Gorbachev he hopes that Ukrainian Catholics will be granted full religious freedom.

“I don’t know when, but certainly the Pope will be going someday to the Soviet Union,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro said. “The situation must evolve in such a way that the Pope could go to the different places he wants to go, the places where there are Catholics.”

The Vatican estimates that there are up to 10 million Catholics in the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev and the Vatican statement said the two men agreed to establish official ties at a level to be worked out by diplomats. The Holy See had diplomatic relations with Czarist Russia but they were broken after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

In his speech, Gorbachev said Moscow is addressing church issues “in a spirit of democracy and humanism and within the framework of perestroika “ and that all confessors “have a right to satisfy their spiritual needs.”

He pledged that a new religious law guaranteeing freedom of worship will be adopted shortly.

At a news conference later in Milan before departing for Malta, Gorbachev said religious freedom should become “a fundamental part of perestroika. “

He said he and the Pope stressed the importance of moral values and often used the same words and expressions in talking of their vision of the world.

“We spoke of perestroika and I heard words of support from the Pope for what our people are doing now,” he said. “This understanding is obviously important.”

John Paul referred to the “painful trials” that Soviet believers have suffered in past decades. But he said Gorbachev’s visit was a “promise-filled sign for the future” for all believers in the Soviet Union.

“On their behalf--whether they be of the Latin, Byzantine or Armenian rite--I express the fervent hope that they be able to practice freely their religious life,” he said.

Once the Catholics are free, the Pope said, they could work for better relations with the Russian Orthodox.

The Orthodox have opposed the legalization of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, partly because they stand to lose hundreds of churches and thousands of followers they gained after the 1946 persecution.

In a cautious response to Friday’s meeting, Rome-based Ukrainian Catholic leader Myroslav Lubachivsky said he hoped that the church’s demands for full religious freedom will be met and he offered to cooperate with the Russian Orthodox.

The Pope, in a speech partly in Russian and the rest in Italian, said he is wishing for the success of Gorbachev’s reforms and said the Vatican is ready to support “every initiative” to protect the rights of people and ensure peace.

He said he was praying that Gorbachev’s weekend summit with President Bush will “lead to a new understanding, one based upon a careful heeding of the needs and aspirations of peoples.”

Gorbachev, who addressed the Pope as “Your Holiness,” wore a dark, pin-striped suit for the visit that began with a greeting from bemedaled Vatican dignitaries and a heel-clicking salute from a detachment of Swiss Guards, the Pope’s ceremonial army.

In the closed-door talks, the two men were alone for the first five minutes, speaking in Russian, and then were joined by interpreters. The Pope switched to Polish and Italian at times, while Gorbachev continued in Russian, Vatican officials said.

As reported by Navarro, Gorbachev told the pontiff after the private discussions, “We realize we are talking with the highest religious figure in the world, but one who is also a Slav.”

The spokesman reported that the Pope laughed and said, “Yes, the first Slavic Pope. But I think it was Providence that prepared the way for our meeting.”