Vatican and Kazakhstan Sign Diplomatic Agreement to Facilitate Visas for Religious

“In the history of this land there has been no lack of other painful bites. I think of the serpents embracers of violence, of the atheist persecution, in a sometimes torturous path in which the people’s freedom was threatened and their dignity wounded,” said the Pope.

(ZENIT News / Nur-Sultan, 14.09.2022).- On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, an Agreement was signed, in the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, between the Holy See and the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Agreement gives a broader implementation of Article 2 of the 1998 Bilateral Agreement between both States, facilitating the issuing of visas and residence permits to foreign ecclesiastical and religious personnel committed in the pastoral care of the Catholic faithful in Kazakhstan. The Document, which has a Preamble and eight paragraphs, consolidates further the existing bonds of friendship and cooperation between both parties.

Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, signed for the Holy See, and Mr Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister signed for the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Agreement will come into force after the exchange of the instruments of ratification.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Kazakhstan.