Pope arrives in Havana to meet Russian Orthodox
Patriarch Kirill
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
has just arrived in the Cuban capital Havana where he will have an historic
first meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.
The Patriarch arrived in Cuba yesterday at the start of a three nation tour of
Orthodox communities in Latin America, while Pope Francis is on his way to
Mexico City, where he’s scheduled to land at around 7.30 this evening local
time.
Cuban President Raul Castro
was at Havana’s ‘José Martì’ International airport to meet the papal plane and
to accompany Pope Francis to the room where the private encounter is taking
place.
The two Church leaders are
due to meet together for about two hours, accompanied by their translators and
their top ecumenical experts, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity and Metropolitan Hilarion, President of the Moscow
Patriarch’s Department for External Church Relations.
The Pope and the Patriarch
will then exchange gifts and sign a Common Declaration, expected to focus on
the plight of Christians in the Middle East and other areas where Catholics and
Orthodox can witness together to their common Christian values.
Both leaders will then hold a
brief press conference to share their impressions and their hopes for the
future of Catholic-Orthodox relations.
You can watch the event live
and hear our radio commentary in English on theVatican
YouTube channel.
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