Pope and Russian Orthodox patriarch to hold historic meeting
today for the first time since 1054
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/12/pope-meets-leader-of-russian-orthodox-church-for-first-time-since-1054
<snip>
Pope Francis heads to Cuba on Friday looking to heal a 1,000-year-old rift in Christianity before embarking on a tour of Mexico.
The pontiff is due to spend around two hours in private conversation with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox church at Havana’s José Marti airport.
It will be the first meeting between the leaders of Christianity’s two biggest churches since a 1054 schism that helped to shape modern Europe and the Middle East.
Francis and Kirill are due to sign a joint declaration on the contemporary persecution of Christians in places such as Iraq and Syria.
The meeting on neutral ground has been decades in the planning, with the final obstacles finally swept away by a combination of the pope’s determination that it should happen and the Russian church’s feeling that events in the Middle East have made Christian unity much more urgent.
