Religion.
Pope Francis visits with Patriarch Kirill in the first- ever meeting between a pontiff and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
With a hug and an exclamation of “Finally!” Pope Francis met Friday with Patriarch Kirill in the first ever meeting between a pontiff andthe head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000year schism that has divided Christianity.
“We are brothers,” Francis said as he embraced Kirill in the small, wood- paneled VIP room of Havana’s airport, where the three- hour encounter took place.
“Now things are easier,” Kirill agreed as he and the pope exchanged three kisses on the cheek. “This is the will of God,” the pope said.
Later Friday, Francis flew into Mexico City’s airport to begin a five- day visit during which he plans to bring a message of solidarity with the victims of drug violence, human trafficking and discrimination to some of that country’s most violent and poverty- stricken regions.
A smiling Francis was greeted with a rock concert- like show with blue floodlights illuminating a stage and bandstands and crowds waving yellow handkerchiefs. Mariachis serenaded as his chartered plane pulled to a stop and people shouted “Brother Francis, you’re already Mexican.”
President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife met Francis on a red carpet. The pontiff then made the 13K- mile trip to the papal envoy’s residence for the night.
The Havana meeting and signing of a joint declaration of religious unity was decades in the making and cemented Francis’ reputation as a risk- taking statesman who values dialogue, bridge- building and rapprochement at almost any cost.
In the 30- point statement, the two leaders declared themselves ready to take all necessary measures to overcome their historical differences, saying “we are not competitors, but brothers.”
Francis and Kirill also called for political leaders to act on the single most important issue of shared concern between the Catholic and Orthodox churches today: the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria who are being killed and driven from their homes by the Islamic State group.
“In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa, entire families of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being exterminated, entire villages and cities,” the declaration said.
While the meeting has been hailed by many as an important ecumenical breakthrough, Francis has also come under criticism for essentially allowing himself to be used by a Russia eager to assert itself among Orthodox Christians and on the world stage.
The declaration was signed in the uniquely ideal location of Cuba: far removed fromthe Catholic- Orthodox turf battles in Europe, a country that is Catholic and familiar to Latin America’s first pope, but equally familiar to the Russian church given its anti- American and Soviet legacy. The pope helped mediate the declaration of detente between the U. S. and Cuba in 2014.
“If this continues, Cuba will become the capital of unity,” the pope said.
Calling the talks “very substantive,” Kirill said: “The results make it possible to say that today the two churches can actively work together to protect Christians around the world.”
Orthodox observers say Kirill’s willingness to finally meet with a pope has less to do with any new ecumenical impulse than grandstanding at a time when Russia is increasingly under fire from the West over its military actions in Syria and Ukraine. Kirill, a spiritual adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, leads the most powerful of the 14 independent Orthodox churches that will meet this summer in Greece in the first such pan- Orthodox synod in centuries.