On his way to Mexico, Francis will stop in Cuba for several hours, where he will partake in a historic meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.
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Although the Orthodox churches retain great autonomy in their respective regions, with their spiritual home in “Constantinople” – modern-day Istanbul – half of all Orthodox are Russian Orthodox, making any undertaking by them significant.
During the war in Ukraine, the patriarch repeatedly denounced the “anti-Russian” policies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern rite church that recognizes the pope and is a source of great friction between Moscow and Vatican.
Channel 2’s Keith Garvin, who will be traveling to Mexico City to cover the first leg of the pope’s visit, sat down with Cardinal Daniel Dinardo, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, ahead of the pontiff’s visit.
Pope Francis’ first tour through Mexico starts Friday and ends Wednesday in Juárez, Chihuahua.
Although we do not have data on exactly how many people globally identify with the Russian Orthodox Church in particular, there are about 100 million Orthodox Christians living in Russia – by far the most of any single country. St. John Paul II made unprecedented papal visits to such predominantly Orthodox lands as Romania, Georgia, and Greece.
Dominican Fr Hyacinthe Destivelle, who is in charge of relations with the Slavic Orthodox Churches at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will be in Havana for this unprecedented encounter.
With relations warming between the United States and Cuba, and tensions momentarily calming between Moscow and Washington as the former continues taking actions against the Islamic State, the meeting takes place at a vital point in time for all the nations and entities involved, including the U.S. as an important observer.
“The church agenda is not connected with the political agenda of any country in any way”, said Father Alexander Volkov.
“The Holy See and the Moscow Patriarchate hope it will also be a sign of hope for all men of good will”. Russian Orthodox also is the official church of Russia, with all other faiths considered sects requiring government permission to go about their business.
He was expected to meet with Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro, 89, the revolutionary leader who handed the presidency to his brother Raul, 84, in 2008 due to ailing health. Vatican aides say the document will likely pledge to work together to protect persecuted Christians in Africa and the Middle East.
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A meeting between the two religious leaders has been on the cards for some time, with Francis saying in 2014 he was willing to meet Kirill “wherever you want”.
