Gorbachev visit marks new diplomatic moves

by Viviane Hewitt in Rome THE dawn of full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Soviet Union is only a question of time, according to the USSR's governmentappointed Vatican observer.
In the countdown to Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival at the Vatican today for lengthy private talks with the Pope, considered Communism's arch enemy at the start of his reign, Professor Anatoly Kovalsky confirmed that the viewpoints of the Church and the USSR were now just "different accents" on issues, "no longer contrasts."
He told the Rome daily La Repubblica from Moscow that the Soviet Union had predicted "difficulties" for a Polish Pope "within the Vatican" in 1979. "But we also thought that this Pope could unite real understanding of the Socialist world with knowledge of the West, that he impersonated the two parts of the world."
Professor Kovalsky, a Vatican observer since the 1960s, admitted his job was a state secret in the Soviet Union until now. "I used to tell people that everyone had a hobby and that mine was the Vatican," he said, adding that the personalities of Gorbachev and John Paul II had counted as much as any diplomatic intervention in making the Soviet leader's visit to the Vatican possible.
He revealed that the decision to arrange the encounter was "relatively recent" and inevitable under the new Soviet conception of foreign policy. The professor said John Paul's affirmations on social issues in his encylcial Solleciturth rei socialis had sent signals that dialogue would be possible.
The Soviet Union appreciated John Paul's attention for man's problems and felt his vision of one Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, united him with Gorbachev who intended a similar concept with his policy catch phrase "a common home".
"We and the Vatican have said that one civilisation underlies this Europe. The Vatican accentuates Christianity". "This is now a question of different accents, no longer contrasts", he said.
• TEN Moscow Christians, representing both Russian Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian Church faithful to Rome, have co-signed a letter to Pope John Paul II appealing for his "intercession" on their behalf with Mikhail Gorbachev today.