"The Catholic Church in Russia would like to keep developing its relations with the country’s leadership for the common good of the Catholics and all Russian society". This has been written by the Russian Catholic Bishops, gathered yesterday and today in their plenary meeting in Saratov, in the message of good wishes they sent during the assembly to the new president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. "You have a demanding task state the prelates in their letter , becoming the president of a big country, solving the serious problems of Russian society, taking difficult decisions". Recalling the "attention" showed by Medeved "as the president of the governmental committee for the problems of religious organisation" to such problems and "the needs of the religious organisations", the Catholic Bishops think he will "warrant the hopes of the citizens" who voted for him last Sunday. The plenary meeting re-elected Joseph Werth president of the Bishops for the next three years and elected deputy president Kirill Klimovitch, while the secretary general Igor Kowalewski was confirmed in its position. The discussions focussed on callings to priesthood and consecrated life, the work of the seminary of Saint Petersburg, the relations between the State and the Church, the presence and the service of foreign priests, nuns and monks on the territory of the Russian Federation.
