After the ceremony, they were to head to assignments to preach and hear confessions in Africa, Asia, North America, the Middle East and elsewhere during the Holy Year, which runs through November 20.
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“The meeting can not be an end in itself, but must rather be an instrument, a necessary means for honest and open dialogue”, the major archbishop added.
One sore point remains the fate of church properties that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin confiscated from Eastern Rite Catholics in Ukraine and gave to the Russian Orthodox there.
The Vatican announced the pope-patriarch meeting February 5 and, on February 8, released an updated itinerary for Pope Francis’ trip. Whatever the joint declaration they sign when they meet in Cuba, the simple fact of their meeting is a clear signal the hostility and chill of the past thousand years or so since the Great Schism may finally be edging towards a warmer phase in relations.
The election of Kirill in 2009 also helped pave the way for the reconciliation.
One prominent victim, José Barba, a university professor, who was abused by Maciel in his youth, told the Mexican press ahead of the pope’s visit that survivors were “still waiting for justice” and he urged the pope to meet them.
In 2004, when he was head of the Russian church’s foreign affairs department, Kirill came to Havana to preside over a ceremony laying the first stone. “It’s the first step in a long process”, says Robert Mickens, a Vatican analyst.
Despite the USA taking a defensive stance on illegal immigrants, and with presidential candidate Donald Trump promising to deport illegal immigrants in the country should he be elected president, the Pope stands in his solidarity with the migrants, reports The Wall Street Journal.
“The Mexico of violence, the Mexico of corruption, the Mexico of drug trafficking, the Mexico of cartels, is not the Mexico our Mother wants”, the Pope said in a video released by the Vatican last week, referring to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who Roman Catholics venerate as the patroness of Mexico. “This contributes to generating some new antagonisms with the [Orthodox] church”. “Francis is in great continuity with an agenda of reconciliation that dates back to Pope John XXIII, 50 years ago”. He called the visit “very important”. Organizers say that tickets will be furnished to Catholic parishes on both sides of the border for those who want to attend the Mass. The venue holds approximately 220,000 people.
Practically, Cuba as the venue makes sense too.
Lombardi said pope had posted a Twitter message before departure about his Mexico trip, saying, “In Mexico I will look into the eyes of the Virgin Mary and implore her to look upon us always with mercy”.
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“The Pope…is coming to see how institutions have sought to forget the case of our children and leave it in impunity”.
