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Related: About this forumPope Francis Bound for Having Historic Meeting 1,000 Years in the Making
Pope Francis Bound for Having Historic Meeting 1,000 Years in the Making
By Meghan Keneally
, Kirit Radia
and PATRICK REEVELL
·Feb 12, 2016, 12:05 PM ET
A sombrero-wearing Pope Francis appeared to be excited about his trip to Mexico today as he boarded the plane transporting him, but the most historic part of his trip comes before he lands south of the border.
The head of the Catholic Church will meet today with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Havana before heading to Mexico for a six-day trip. The meeting will bring the heads of the Russian and Catholic churches together for the first time since Christianity split.
Patriarch Kirill has already landed in Cuba.
Lengthy Lead Up to the Meeting
The meeting is about 1,000 years in the making as the two split back in the 11th century.
More:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-francis-historic-meeting-1000-years-making/story?id=36891449
LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141346490
Judi Lynn
(160,588 posts)The Latest: Pope arrives in Cuba for historic meeting
Feb 12, 2:01 PM EST
HAVANA (AP) -- The Latest on Pope Francis's historic meeting in Cuba with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and his subsequent trip to Mexico (all times local):
2:00 p.m.
Pope Francis has landed in Cuba for the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity.
The pope's jetliner set down at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, where he's scheduled to have a two-hour meeting with Patriarch Kirill before heading off on a five-day visit to Mexico.
While the meeting Havana has been hailed in some Catholic circles as an important ecumenical breakthrough, some have complained that Francis has also come under criticism for essentially allowing himself to be used by a by a Russia eager to assert itself among other Orthodox Christians and on the world stage at a moment when the country is increasingly isolated from the West.
More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_POPE_PATRIARCH_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-12-14-01-37