The article examines the most important processes in international relations and domestic politics of Petrine Russia – the process of legalizing Catholic church-building. It clarifies the chronology and circumstances of Catholics obtaining the legal right to make Church buildings in Russia, and studies the nature of the laws adopted in this field. Russian Catholics received permission to have permanent temples in the early of 18th century, and it was legally issued at least five times. At the same time, the Russian authorities, fearing increased interference by Catholic countries in the internal life of Russia, have not confirmed the freedom of Roman church-building by special legislative acts at the internal level. The author found out that the issue of the legal sanction of Catholic temple construction in Russia, 17-th and 18-th centuries, remained primarily a foreign policy issue.