He always remembered Russia. He really wanted to go there. It didn’t work out. This dream has not come true. He built a bridge with Mikhail Gorbachev, met Boris Yeltsin, twice met Vladimir Putin in a private audience. The Holy Father was trying to get closer to this country, to this system; so, to show the Russians that he remembers them, that he has them in his heart, but also to claim the truth, about human rights, freedom. I know that all these difficult topics in the audience were discussed. John Paul II always spoke of what lay on his heart the most. He said there was no room for anger and regret, but there was always room for reflection.
– Remembers the priest meeting with Putin?
– Yes, I was at these meetings, as much as it was possible. Putin was very open and said explicitly that he was inviting the Holy Father to Russia. But, also that he realizes that this is not yet a good time for the Pope to come to Russia.
– But, he was inviting?
– Yes. He said, “I would invite the Holy Father, but the situation is not yet right. The area is not yet prepared for the Pope’s arrival; Orthodoxy has not yet matured for it.” It was the year 2000. Vladimir Putin came to the Pope in 2003 and again said the same thing?
– Yes, the same thing. I remember that the Holy Father very much wanted to present the miraculous image of Our Lady of Kazan to the Orthodox Church. During this last audience, the icon was moved to a private library, the Holy Father pointed at it, and Putin asked if he could kiss Her. The Holy Father, of course, agreed, and Putin approached the painting, bowed out in the Eastern Rite and kissed Our Lady Kazan, honoring Her. The Holy Father was very sorry that he could not personally bring this historical symbolic icon to Russia. He finally handed it over to the Orthodox Church by Vatican envoys in August 2004.
– So, the meetings with Vladimir Putin ended with an invitation to Moscow?
– Yes, invitations were made, but with the proviso that a visit at the moment is impossible.
With the permission of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki –“He liked Tuesdays the most”
M Publishing House, Krakow 2008
