Pope receives Russian President

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.

An official communiqué from the Press Office of the Holy See says the Pope and the President held cordial discussions during their meeting Thursday, in which they expressed their pleasure at the good state of bilateral relations and highlighted their desire to strengthen them.

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.

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: