Pope Francis meets Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in historic talks

Pope Francis meets Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in historic talks

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill have held the first meeting of a Catholic pope and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in almost 1,000 years. They signed a joint statement condemning the persecution of Christians.

Date 12.02.2016

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill exchanged kisses and embraced each other before sitting down smiling for the historic meeting at the airport in Havana on Friday. The pontiff is hoping to overcome a nearly 1,000-year-old rift in Christianity dating back to the Great Schism of 1054.

"At last we meet. We are brothers," the pope said as the two church leaders met. "Clearly this meeting is God's will."

"Now things are easier," Kirill, 69, added.

Their meeting, which was only announced a week ago, had been decades in the making and each detail carefully selected ahead of time. The fact that the two religious leaders had decided to come together on neutral ground for a meeting hosted by the atheist Cuban leadership carried a certain amount of political significance. Cuba's rich Catholic tradition as well as its close relations with Moscow during the Soviet era provided an appropriate mix of cultures and values to serve as a backdrop to the historic encounter.

Political differences beyond spiritual harmony

The two church leaders met for about three hours and later signed a joint declaration on the contemporary persecution of Christians in parts of Iraq and Syria and elsewhere in the world. Despite recent clashes between Russia and the West over Syria's future, the signed declaration gave hope for further common ground to be found.

The pair said they wished to express "compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence."

"Thousands of victims have already been claimed in the violence in Syria and Iraq, which has left many other millions without a home or means of sustenance. We urge the international community to seek an end to the violence and terrorism and, at the same time, to contribute through dialogue to a swift return to civil peace," the joint text said.

More:
http://www.dw.com/en/pope-francis-meets-orthodox-patriarch-kirill-in-historic-talks/a-19046027

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