(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis takes off for the Cuban capital, Havana on Friday for his historic encounter with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill.
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Father Bordeianu said Catholic-Orthodox dialogue in the United States, in which he has always been involved, is strong and unlikely to be affected by the summit.
He said it was not political and could open “new prospects” for cooperation between the two branches of the church.
The leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches will meet for the first time since their schism 1,000 years ago, in order to discuss the ongoing persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Details of the declaration have not been made public.
In 1964, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras reconciled in Jerusalem, and their successors up to Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew have regularly exchanged warm visits. For years, Metropolitan Hilarion, the powerful chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, quashed speculation about a meeting by pointing at grave differences of opinion. “You call me and I’ll go”.
The Orthodox Church’s refusal to accept the primacy of the Roman pontiff has always been the primary barrier to a rapprochement.
Given his policies, Putin has enjoyed a high degree of support from Russia’s Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, and of course, Orthodox leaders, and he has had a close relationship with Patriarch Kirill and his predecessor Alexy II.
As Francis travels to Mexico and Kirill heads to Brazil and Paraguay, their paths will cross in Havana at the city’s José Martí International Airport. Tensions, which also included those over allegations by the Russian Orthodox Church that the Catholic Church is poaching converts in Russian lands, prevented previous Popes from ever meeting with Russian Patriarchs.
During his stay, the Patriarch will also hold official talks with President Raul Castro and government ministers, and will carry out other activities as part of his official program, the Cubaminrex website reported.
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They are outnumbered in the former Spanish colony by Roman Catholics, Protestants and practitioners of African-rooted cults. “He does not condemn to eternal fire those of us who use Leninist Marxism as a basis to fight for a just world”.
