Pope Benedict XVI receives Czech PM Fischer

Fischer met supreme representatives of the Catholic Church less than two months after the Pope's visit to the Czech Republic on September 26-28.

Before the meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, Fischer, head of the caretaker cabinet, laid flowers on the graves of previous Pope John Paul II and Czech Cardinal Josef Beran.

The relations between the Czech Republic and the Vatican are still burdened by the fact that the two countries have not yet ratified the Czech-Vatican treaty on bilateral relations.

Both countries' representatives agreed on the treaty, which concerns also the position of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, in the late 1990s, but the Czech Chamber of Deputies, lower house of parliament, did not pass the document in 2003.

However, the Vatican does not intend to change the text of the original treaty and expects the Czech Republic to ratify it.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz