Russia Bans Italian Priest
By SARAH KARUSH
Associated Press Writer
April 10, 2002, 12:22 PM EDT
MOSCOW -- Russia has banned a Catholic priest from Italy from returning to his parishes, the priest said Wednesday, amid heightened tensions between the Vatican and Russia's dominant Orthodox Church.
The Rev. Stefano Caprio, who has lived in Russia since 1989, said he realized after landing in Italy that passport officers had ripped his visa as he left Moscow on Friday. Caprio said by phone that he was refused a new visa and was told he was on a list of banned foreigners compiled by Russian security services.
A spokesman for the Russian Border Guard Service, Sergei Ivanchenko, confirmed Wednesday that Caprio was refused entry into Russia. "Every nation has the right to determine who can stay on its territory," he said.
The Foreign Ministry refused to comment.
A Catholic spokesman in Russia, the Rev. Igor Kovalevsky, said the church had no reason to believe Caprio had violated Russian law or done anything to provoke his exclusion from the country.
The Vatican called in the Russian ambassador over the issue, Caprio said, adding that the meeting was expected to take place Thursday. Representatives of the Italian Embassy in Moscow were to meet with Foreign Ministry officials on Thursday, he said.
The incident comes at a time of increased discord between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches.
Earlier this year, the Vatican upgraded its presence in Russia to full-fledged dioceses. This angered the Orthodox Church, which views the Catholic presence in Russia as an invasion of its canonical territory and an attempt to poach Orthodox believers.
Caprio, who had traveled to Milan for a four-day visit to meet with his bishop, said his visa problem could be connected to the tension surrounding the Catholic Church in Russia. But he said he has never had any personal problems with authorities and was at a loss as to why he was targeted.
"Right now I can't understand what this is about," Caprio said. "I didn't break any laws."
However, Caprio recalled that in April 2000, he had been named a "Vatican spy" by a muckraking Moscow weekly, Versiya.
Catholic priests have been denied Russian visas in the past, but Caprio said his was the first case of a visa being confiscated.
About 200 foreign Catholic priests have helped the country's small Catholic minority revive its religious traditions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During seven decades of Communist rule, few people of Catholic ancestry had any opportunity to learn about or practice their faith.
Caprio, who speaks the language fluently, leads parishes in the central Russian cities of Vladimir and Ivanovo. He also teaches theology in Moscow.
In Vladimir, people pack the pews at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on Sundays to hear Caprio celebrate Mass in his melodically accented Russian.
Reached by telephone, parish secretary Viktoria Shubina said the community was distraught at the news of Caprio's visa problem.
"We can't imagine what this is about," she said. "We believe it is a horrible mistake."
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
.
Previous Topic
Index