Pope, Russian Patriarch Meeting to Help Reconciliation Between Two Churches

The meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will inspire greater religious tolerance in the world and will help to reconciliate between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches, the director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations at the Orthodox Church in America said Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will pave the way for reconciliation between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches, the director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations at the Orthodox Church in America said Saturday.

The historic meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church took pace at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport on Friday. The meeting marks the first time a Catholic pope and an Orthodox patriarch meet since Christianity split into western and eastern branches in 1054.

"In the context of the meeting of Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis, and in the spirit of their joint declaration in Havana, we are witnessing a convergence of the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church on the road toward reconciliation," The Very Reverend Leonid Kishkovsky told RIA Novosti.

Kishkovsky added that the Catholic-Orthodox relations involve all the Orthodox Churches but the Russian Orthodox Church is the largest, therefore having significant weight and presence.