JERUSALEM (Sputnik) – The patriarch and the pope will meet on Friday in Cuba’s Havana for the first time since their churches split in the 11th century.
"We are very pleased with this meeting, the need for which is long overdue… This is an important event for Christian unity… We hope that our holidays, especially Easter and Christmas, will be unified," Twal told RIA Novosti.
In June 2015, Pope Francis offered to fix the same date for Easter to Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and Patriarch of Moscow Kirill.
Catholics use the Gregorian calendar to calculate the date of Easter and Christmas, while the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so usually they celebrate the holidays on different days.