NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      MOSCOW (CWNews.com/KNS) - The Russian government is ready to implement a new visa system that could prevent the Catholic Church from bringing foreign priests into the country to provide for its parishes, according to Moscow's Institute of Religion and Law.

      In the rules already distributed to Russian consulates worldwide, visa applicants must specify the reason for their visit. The categories numbered 54, 55 and 56 -- "'religious affairs," "charitable," and "humanitarian" -- allow visas only for three-month periods. Unlike foreign athletes or businessmen, foreigners in those three categories are not given the right to extend their stays in Russia or to apply for multiple-entry visas.

      Catholic parishes in Russia are dependent on foreign-born priests and will likely remain so for at least another generation because the first post-Communist seminary was only opened in 1990. Father Antoni Gei of the apostolic administration in Moscow told Keston on July 14 that two nuns, one from Poland and one from Slovakia, have already been denied visa renewals on the basis of the new regulations.