On 15 March 2022, in the Vatican City, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Secretary for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, Paul Richard Gallagher, and the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, Edgar Peña Parra, for a discussion on the bilateral dialogue between Latvia and the Holy See, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cooperation in international organisations.
Russia’s increasing attacks on residential areas in Ukraine, including on civilians, strategic and humanitarian facilities, are unforgivable and must be stopped, Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined.
During the meeting, the Latvian Foreign Minister informed his hosts that Latvia had been providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as well as continuing to receive people from Ukraine.
Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed his conviction that good cooperation between the Latvian state and the Roman Catholic Church had been taking place in Latvia. The State takes care of the conservation and restoration of sacral architecture as well as providing financial assistance to organising the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Aglona. Christian values are part of Latvia’s cultural and historical heritage; therefore, the State and the Church are cooperating on a regular basis towards the protection and preservation of those values, the Minister said. A great deal of work is being invested into research and restoration of sacral sites. A real ecumenical cooperation is under way in Latvia, of which Pope Francis could ascertain during his visit to Riga Cathedral in 2018, Edgars Rinkēvičs noted.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs present the Secretary of State of the Holy See with a copy of a document concerning Bishop Boļeslavs Sloskāns. It was sent to the British Foreign Office by the Latvian Envoy, Kārlis Zariņš, on 4 November 1955 in view of the Venerable Bishop Sloskāns possibly becoming the first saint of Latvian descent. “The letter contains a short biography of the Venerable Bishop Boļeslavs Sloskāns and a report on his addresses delivered to the Latvian community about his life in Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1933 – a period marked by persecution and suffering,” Edgars Rinkēvičs emphasised.