The paper aims to investigate the public debate concerning the cultural and political role played by the Holly See during the Gorbachev era, focusing on the Vatican engagement in the international human rights campaign. With research based on some of the most important European Catholic reviews, it will thoroughly analyse some turning points in the second half of the 1980s: the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe the celebration of the Millennium of the Christianization of Rus’; the forums of dialogue between Catholics and Marxists, and the debate over the new Soviet law on religious freedom. The paper will analyse the Vatican’s positions and the discussion in the Catholic public opinion. The main objective will be to study the moments of dialogue, the cross-pollination between the two partners and their effects in international Catholicism.