“The voices have gotten louder,” Fortunato said.
So far, efforts to remove the plaque have failed: Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, some 12,000 people signed an online petition calling for its removal, but it was rejected. Part of the problem is that it's not clear even to some local officials who is responsible for making that decision, although the cathedral's rector, Giovanni Distante, said the square where the plaque sits “is under the direct responsibility of the city government.”
Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In 2022, the mayor defended the plaque, saying he was “not in favor of cancelling a piece of history,” local media reported at the time.
In an interview, Father Distante tried to navigate the controversy by focusing on St. Nicholas’ history of “promoting and reconstructing Christian unity,” and stressed that it was the Russian Orthodox Church in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, that initiated the commemoration of the relics now kept in Bari in 1095. It was a subtle acknowledgement of the rift that has developed between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the traditional Russian patriarchy led by an ally of Mr. Putin after the 2022 invasion.
But Father Distante said St. Nicholas' legacy of promoting “justice, truth, love and peace” also provided a fitting backdrop for the G7 meeting.
Last month, about 1,000 Orthodox pilgrims attended the annual service celebrating St. Nicholas at Bari Cathedral. Some were visitors from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, but most were locals. In past years, the celebration has drawn more than 10,000 people, about a third of them from Russia, officials said.