A joint news release from the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow said Francis and Kyril will have a “personal conversation” at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana and will conclude their meeting by signing a “joint declaration”. He will stop in Cuba on the way and meet with Kirill at the Havana airport, where they will speak privately for about two hours and then sign a joint declaration, the Vatican said.
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The meeting, the first between a sitting pope and a Russian patriarch, will be an important step in mending the Great Schism that divided Eastern and Western Christianity in 1054.
Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has made it a priority to improve relations with other branches of Christianity, including the Eastern Orthodox, which split from Catholicism in the 11 century after disputes over papal supremacy and other theological disagreements.
He noted the concern of the Pope and Patriarch was particularly needed to highlight the crisis “especially in light of the rather muted official response to the crisis from the United States”. The meeting will be the first in history between a leader of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.
The first major breakthrough came in 1964 when Pope Paul VI met in Jerusalem with Patriarch Athenagoras in the first encounter between a pope and Orthodox patriarch in more than 500 years. The Ukrainian Catholic Church was outlawed by the Soviet government in the 1940s and its property was confiscated by the government, which in turn gave some churches to the Russian Orthodox.
Following the appointment, Francis will travel to Mexico City, where he is due to arrive later that evening.
Lombardi said the historic meeting this month follows two years of diplomacy. The meeting will be a first between a Pope and a Russian patriarch.
During his visit Patriarch Kirill is expected to meet with both Raúl and Fidel Castro.
When Pope Francis was questioned on the plane returning from Istanbul to Rome on November 30, 2014, about the future of Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations, he stated clearly his desire to meet Patriarch Kirill, and said the patriarch shared this desire.
They added that it had taken two years to set up the meeting.
The Roman Catholic Church, which has 1.2 billion followers compared to the Russian Orthodox Church’s 165 million (Eastern Orthodox churches combined claim a membership of around 300 million), was thrilled with the patriarch’s acceptance.
“It’s a place that positioned itself well for the circumstances”, Lombardi told reporters.
The pace of reconciliation between Russian Federation, the biggest country in the world, and the Vatican, the smallest, has been swift, The New York Times reported. Both Patriarch Kirill and Cuban President Raul Castro will see him off.
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“It was a dream of John Paul II to visit Russian Federation, but he was never able to go”, said Wenski.
