Kremlin

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H/T Byzantine Tx (an excellent blog, BTW)

I’m not much of a New Year’s fan (just can’t get my head around celebrating a new year) but it sure makes for some nice pictures. Oh yes, Happy New Year (that part I get)!

Fireworks over St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Thursday to upgrade Vatican-Kremlin relations to full diplomatic ties, the Vatican said.

Kremlin

The step forward on the diplomatic front comes at the same time as a warming in previously tense relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican.

A Vatican statement said Benedict and Medvedev agreed that Russia will upgrade its representation at the Vatican from a special mission to embassy level and that the Vatican will reciprocate in Moscow.

The two men also discussed challenges to “security and peace” in the world and “themes of mutual interest such as the value of the family and the contribution of believers to the life of Russia,” the Vatican said.

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New Year’s doesn’t do much for me but this is cool…

Kremlin, Vatican upgrade diplomatic ties