VATICAN CITY (UCAN) -- The Holy See has announced the elevation of the four apostolic administrations in the Russian Federation to dioceses.

The former administration based in Moscow that served northern European Russia is now an archdiocese, while the former administrations serving southern European Russia, western Siberia and eastern Siberia are now dioceses based in Saratow, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk respectively.

The Vatican statement announcing the move, which observers expected would displease the Russian Orthodox Church, was made public Feb. 11, along with a note from Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Vatican Press Office.

Two days later, a spokesman for Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II wrote to Cardinal Walter Kasper, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, canceling the Vatican cardinal's appointment in Moscow on Feb. 20.

In its statement announcing the new dioceses, the Holy See traced the history of the Catholic Church in Russia back to 1773 under Empress Catherine.

It also provided statistics from 1923 -- "around" 1.65 million Catholics in 580 parishes or churches served by 397 priests -- to show that the actual presence of the Church is not a recent phenomenon.

The current number of Catholics in Russia is estimated at about 1.3 million, but the Holy See notes that accurate statistics "are hard to come by."

Patriarch Alexis has complained that the Catholic Church is intent on proselytizing among Russian Orthodox faithful, but the Vatican maintains that conversions to Catholicism in areas that the Russian Orthodox Church considers its territory are mostly among people who are not yet Christians.

The note from Navarro-Valls states that the Church reorganization in Russia "is a standard administrative procedure, recommended by the need to improve pastoral assistance to the Catholics present in that vast region."

It also says the move is motivated by "the same pastoral concern that has led the Russian Orthodox Church to create dioceses and other organizational structures for the faithful who live outside her own traditional territory."

Catholics in Russia will thus be accorded the same facility that Russian Orthodox in the West already enjoy, the note adds.

Patriarch Alexis has opposed Pope John Paul II's stated desire to visit Moscow, and Vatican observers were surprised when a Russian Orthodox delegation, but not the patriarch, attended the day of prayer for peace that the pope convened Jan. 24 in Assisi, Italy.

With the latest development, though, observers are speculating that Pope John Paul may have resigned himself to leave new attempts at Catholic-Russian Orthodox dialogue to his successor.

One of the few positive comments comes from Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, head of the new archdiocese based in Moscow, who reportedly said that "understanding" between the two Churches is still possible.

As with the new metropolitan archdiocese, its three suffragans in the new ecclesiastical province covering the Russian Federation are each headed by their former bishop administrator.

The dioceses based in Saratow, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk are headed by Bishop Clemens Pickel, Jesuit Bishop Joseph Werth and Divine Word Bishop Jerzy Mazur respectively.

END