Darko Tanaskovic on Pope possibly coming to Serbia: "His visit would have multiple benefits"

Tanaskovic said that Pope Francis is the only pope so far who, under certain precisely agreed conditions, could visit Serbia, and that there will probably not be another one after him for a long time

University professor, writer and former diplomat Darko Tanaskovic says he is not sure if the time has come for the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, to visit Serbia, but that he might be able to do that, and that his arrival would be very useful.

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Tanaskovic told the Podgorica based portal Borba that Pope Francis is the only pope so far who, under certain precisely agreed conditions, could visit Serbia, and that there will probably not be another after him for a long time.

He said that when asked whether the time has come for the pope to visit Belgrade and how he views this possible act, noting that he is saying this without prejudicing anything, because he doesn't have enough information or competence for that.

He stressed that his personal opinion on this extremely controversial topic is not particularly important and that "it is no secret that the main obstacle to the arrival of the heir to St. Peter's throne is the unwillingness of the Serbian Orthodox Church to invite him, although there are nuances among our hierarchs."

"The reasons for the reserved stance of our Church are known and understandable. And the pope always considers his visits to be both state and pastoral, which is in the logic of the dual, spiritual and secular nature of his role," Tanaskovic explained.

He recalled that Pope Francis was recently in the Orthodox Greece without a church invitation, but also without any demonstrative opposition of the Archbishopric of Athens. The focus of his mission, Tanaskovic noted, was humanitarian, related to the stance towards migrants, but in a general sense he also apologized for the historical transgressions of the Catholics towards their Orthodox brothers in Christ, which when it comes to Greece primarily has to do with the horrific destruction of Constantinople in 1204 during the Crusades.

"But, the Serbian negative experiences with the Vatican and, especially, the Catholic Church in Croatia, are different and, which is very important, more recent, and in a certain form they continue to this day. At the state level, diplomatic dynamics in bilateral Serbia-Vatican relations have recently accelerated, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic visited the Holy See, and his colleague, Secretary for Relations with States Paul Gallagher returned the favor in an unusually short amount time, only for the influential prelate Vincenzo Paglia to also be received in the Government of Serbia a few days later," said Tanaskovic, and added:

"It is obvious that both sides are aware of the need to strengthen and improve relations, especially in the context of regional events and processes. We'll see what all of this brings..."

(Telegraf.rs)