Pope and Alexi II to Meet

INTERFAX RUSSIAN NEWS, Jan. 14, 2001 –– A Vatican representative told the news service that a meeting between Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Alexi II of Moscow will definitely take place during the Pope's summer trip to Ukraine. (See story of the trip above)

In a recent interview with an Interfax reporter in Kaliningrad, Archbishop Crescencio Sepe said: “John Paul II is ready to meet with Alexi II even today. But there are certain problems which we are trying to solve jointly with the Orthodox Church.”

Archbishop Sepe was in Kaliningrad to attend a Catholic symposium on the completion of the celebrations in Russia of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity.

The symposium brought together bishops from different parts of Russia and representatives of the Russian Orthodox and Evangelical-Lutheran churches.

Vatican Ambassador on Clinton and John Paul

THE BOSTON PHOENIX, Jan. 18-25 –– Former Boston mayor and Vatican ambassador Ray Flynn has a lot to share about the time he spent at the geographic heart of the Church.

He has already released a fictional story set at the Vatican and will soon issue the memoirs of his time there.

A recent article in the Phoenix provided readers with a glimpse of the upcoming book, which, among other things, details Flynn's well-known rift with President Clinton over Vatican diplomacy.

According to the article, the trouble began in 1994, after Clinton signed executive orders allowing America to fund abortions abroad. Wishing to communicate the Pope's displeasure over this change in policy, Flynn made a request to speak with the president.

Flynn writes that he was rebuffed by Clinton for two days, prompting him to fly to Washington to meet with Clinton personally over the matter.

“White House officials escorted Flynn to Secretary Betty Currie's area outside the Oval Office to wait for the president.

There Flynn sat, nibbling on M&Ms from a bowl in the office, for two days — leaving only late at night to return to his hotel room … [U]ltimately, Flynn persuaded Clinton to call the Pope. But the damage was done.”

As Flynn put it, “There was a certain arrogance on the part of the White House staff.”

Vatican Appoints U.N. Permanent Observer

THE IRISH TIMES, Jan. 18 — The Vatican has named Irish Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, the Dublin daily reported.

Born in 1945, Archbishop Martin served with the Pontifical Council for the Family in Rome from 1976, moving ten years later to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He became secretary of that council in 1994.

In U.N.-related work, Archbishop Martin was a senior member of Vatican delegations to international conferences at Rio de Janeiro (1992), Cairo (1994), Beijing (1995), Istanbul (1996) and Rome (1997).

He also led a delegation at the World Conference for Social Development in Copenhagen (1995) and has sponsored meetings on international debt between the World Bank, the IMF and the Council for Latin American Bishops’ Conferences.

Before being named to his current position and being made titular head of the diocese of Glendalough, he was secretary of the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace.