Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met for 35 minutes on Thursday
in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, during which they discussed a broad range
of issues including the international situation and particularly the Middle East.
It was President Medvedev and Pope Benedict who established full diplomatic relations
between their respective states following a meeting in 2009.
The Press Office statement goes on to say the Pope and the President
recognized the broad-ranging cooperation between the Holy See and the Russian Federation,
both in the promotion of specifically human and Christian values, and in the cultural
and social field.
The statement also notes that the Pope and the President
stressed the positive contribution inter-religious dialogue can make to society.
The
Russian president brought Pope Benedict a painting of the Moscow cityscape, as well
as a pair of volumes containing the correspondence of former Russian president Boris
Yeltsin with other heads of state, including the venerable John Paul II, and an Orthodox
encyclopedia.
The Pope gave President Medvedev a Mosaic portrayal of the Vatican.
Following
his meeting with Pope Benedict, Medvedev and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov,
met with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was himself
accompanied by the secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti.