VATICAN STUDYING WAY FOR POPE TO RETURN ICON TO RUSSIAN PEOPLE

VATICAN CITY, APR 15, 2003 (VIS) - In answer to press reports of a possible stopover by Pope John Paul in Russia during his August trip to Mongolia, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office, yesterday afternoon told journalists: "The Holy Father's desire to return the sacred icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which for years has been cared for in the Vatican, to the Russian people and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow is well known. The appropriate occasion and way of turning it over (to them) will be evaluated at the proper time."

OP;RUSSIAN ICON;...;NAVARRO-VALLS;VIS;20030415;Word: 110;