A Pope to Meet Russian Orthodox Leader for 1st Time in 1,000 years

MOSCOW -- Pope Francis and his counterpart in the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, will meet next week in Cuba for a historic encounter that will bring the heads of the two churches together for the first time since Christianity split almost a 1,000 years ago, both churches announced today.

Statements from the Vatican and the Patriarch's office said the two will sit down during a visit to Cuba Feb. 12 for a meeting meant to help heal the millennium-old split that has divided Christianity into eastern and western branches.

The meeting will take place in Havana airport, when Francis stops there on his way to Mexico, and while Kirill is on an official visit to Cuba, according to a joint statement from the Vatican and the Patriarch's office.

After a "personal conversation," the two will then sign a joint declaration, the statement said. The basic subject of discussion will be the plight of Christianity in the Middle East, where religious violence has prompted a mass exodus among Christians.

Both churches said they hoped the meeting would open a new stage in relations between the two branches. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have not met since the Great Schism in 1054. Since then, the churches have viewed each other with deep suspicion and as heretical, with members of the Orthodox faith disputing the pope's status as Christianity's supreme leader on earth.

In a briefing in Moscow, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Ilarion, said it hoped the meeting will "open a new page in relations between the two churches."

There had been rumors for some time that the two leaders might meet. In November 2014, Francis told Kirill, "I'll go wherever you want. You call me and I'll go," The Associated Press reported.

The joint statement issued by the two churches said next week's meeting was taking place "with the grace of God" and asked for "all Christians to pray fervently for God to bless this meeting, that it may bear good fruits."