Vatican

Historic meeting: Pope meets Russian Patriarch

It is the first meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodoxy at all. Pope Francis and the Russian Patriarch Kirill I. in the Cuba meeting.

It is a historic Meeting: For the first Time ever, wants Pope Francis in the next week with the Moscow Patriarch Kirill I. meeting. This meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic Church and Russian Orthodoxy should be next Friday on Cuba to take place, informed Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi. Francis will make a stopover on the outbound leg of his Mexico trip (12. to 18. February) loading.

Several meetings failed

In the 1990s there were several efforts to such a summit such as in Vienna or in Hungary’s Pannonhalma failed. As reasons were given to tensions between the churches around Rome, the Uniate Catholics in the Ukraine.

Francis had several times in the past suggested, to Meet with Kirill I. at any place to be ready. Under his predecessor Benedict XVI (2005-2013), the relations between Rome and Moscow after years of difficult improved significantly.

Problems in the ratio between the two churches

In the pontificate of John Paul II (1978-2005), was also of Polish origin as an impediment for a meeting of the two leaders. In addition to the role of Catholics in the Ukraine was the Russian Orthodox hand also the establishment of four Catholic dioceses in Russia in 2002 as an Affront scored. Officially it was, in front of a personal meeting of Pope and Patriarch would have to meet a number of prerequisites in the relationship of the churches to each other are created and existing problems are resolved.

cr/se (dpa, kna)