The date of 28 August has been agreed upon for the return of the icon because it marks the Feast of the Assumption of the Madonna in the Orthodox calendar. “A few weeks ago, the Holy Father communicated to the patriarch of Moscow his wish to give to the Russian Orthodox Church the sacred icon of the Lady of Kazan,” Navarro-Valls said. Relations between the two churches have been sorely strained since Pope John Paul II announced in 2001 that he was creating four new Roman Catholic dioceses in Orthodox Russia, where Orthodox believers outnumber Catholics by more than 150 to one. Last year, the pontiff had planned a trip to Mongolia during which he hoped to stop over in Kazan, in Russia‘s autonomous republic of Tatarstan, to return the icon.īut Patriarch Alexy II – head of the Russian Orthodox Church which accuses Catholics in Russia of proselytising – opposed the plan.

Navarro-Valls said the Pope hoped the return of the Madonna of Kazan would “contribute to the unity so longed for between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches”. The icon has become something of a symbol of the pope’s long-cherished intention to visit Russia, an event which has been blocked by strained relations between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican. The columnist is the author of the book “La Loyalty- Los Montoneros Que Se Que Seron Con Perón”.Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls on Saturday said the priceless 16th century icon would be handed back to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on 28 August. “Evita died a Franciscan,” said Father Benitez, “so she was buried wearing the robes of a Franciscan sister.” Evita is certainly the prayer of the canticle of the fauna, written by Saint Francis of Assisi, with whom Francis began his encyclopedia Laudato c.

This third order was devised by Saint Francis as a kind of intermediate state between the monastery and the world, who wished to follow in the saint’s footsteps, prevented from entering the first or second, by marriage or other commitments. There is a little-known fact in this visit, which today places Evita very close to the Pope who took its name from Saint Francis of Assisi.Īccording to Father Hernán Benítez, during those days in Rome, Evita visited the headquarters of the Franciscans and was anointed “sister of the ascetic” or “third order” by their general minister Pacifico Parentoni. In Rome he met Pope Pius XII, and in Paris his host was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli who years later became John XIII.

In 1947 Father Hernán Benítez accompanied Evita on the Arco Iris tour, a diplomatic mission through Spain, Italy and France.

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