Putin Meets the Pope

The Orthodox and Catholic churches have been locked for years in bitter disputes that have put off the prospect of a historic meeting between the pope and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II.

But Vatican officials said ahead of Tuesday's meeting that Putin's visit was "significant" and could help further boost ties between the two Christian churches.

"There have been improvements" in relations, Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's envoy to Moscow, said earlier in an interview with Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops conference.

Mennini also raised the possibility of landmark talks between the pope and the patriarch, saying, "It is the aspiration of both churches to organize such a meeting as the end point of a genuine rapprochement."

Putin, who came to the papal audience with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has close ties with the Orthodox Church and has favored improved relations with the Vatican.

"Putin wants to go down in history as the initiator of a dialog between the Catholic and Orthodox churches," Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily said Tuesday, citing observers.

The paper said the main aim of Putin's two-day visit to Italy, which includes talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, was the meeting with Benedict and a revival of Orthodox-Catholic dialog.

Practicing Putin won't be a mediator

Putin, who despite his background in the Soviet secret services regularly attends Orthodox services in Russia, met the pope's predecessor, John Paul II, in 2000 and 2003.

But an official from the patriarchate in Moscow stressed that Tuesday's talks would have "an inter-state character, not an inter-denominational one" and that Putin would not play "a mediating role" with the Catholic Church.

Russian Orthodox religious leaders have repeatedly accused Catholic missionaries of seeking to convert Russians after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the two sides have argued over church property in Ukraine.

There have been some recent signs of a thaw in relations, however, particularly after the Vatican in 2004 returned to Russia an icon known as Our Lady of Kazan, which is revered by Orthodox believers.

In another important symbolic move, the mayor of Bari, a southern Italian city believed to hold the remains of Saint Nicholas, this week offered to hand ownership of a historic Russian church over to Orthodox authorities.

But while the Vatican talks up the ideal of ecumenism, or unity between Christian churches, the issue remains deeply divisive among Russian Orthodox believers.

On Tuesday, Putin also met Prodi and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano for talks focused on business deals between Rome and Moscow that are set to continue in Bari on Wednesday.

Accords on energy, banking and industrial cooperation between the two countries are expected to be sealed at the Bari summit, which will be attended by a range of Italian and Russian ministers and business leaders.