Cardinal Parolin receives Alar Karis, president of Estonia in the Vatican

The Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, received Alaris, President of Estonia on Monday morning since 2021.

First thing on April 3, the Estonian President moved to the Vatican to hold a closed door with Cardinal Parolin. The meeting also participated, as usual in these cases, Mons. Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.

During the conversation, according to the press office of the Holy See, both expressed satisfaction with good bilateral relations, highlighting the positive contribution of the local Catholic community to Estonia society.

Bilateral, regional and international issues were also addressed, with special reference to the perspectives for the end of the war in Ukraine.

President Karis has not been able to meet with Pope Francis, who is in convalescence in the Santa Marta house since March 23. Due to his delicate state of health, the pontiff still has not received visits Since he returned to the Vatican after spending 38 days admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

The Holy Father was in Estonia in September 2018 in the framework of a trip through the Baltic countries, also visiting Lithuania and Latvia. According to the Pontiffthe mission of that trip was “to announce again to those peoples the joy of the Gospel and the revolution of mercy, of tenderness, because freedom is not enough to give meaning and fullness to life without love, the love that comes from God.”

Estonia’s first blessed

In addition, satisfaction was expressed by the imminent beatification of Archbishop Eduard Profittlich, a Jesuit martyr who will be the first Blessed of Estonia.

On June 27, 1941, Archbishop Profittlich was arrested by eight NKVD agents, the so -called town commissioner for internal affairs; And he was transferred to Kirov’s prison in Russia, accused of agitation and antisovietic aid to Catholic ecclesiastics abroad.

In addition, he was accused of espionage in favor of the third German Reich, for which they presented their visits to the Embassy in Tallin. To all these positions, Archbishop Profittlich always responded by stating that he was innocent.

On November 21 he was sentenced to death, but died on February 22, 1942 in the Kirov prison before the sentence was executed.