Pope Francis announces historic meeting with Russian Orthodox Church leader

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio, left, and his brother, Oscar, in a photo provided by their sister, Maria Elena Bergoglio. The undated photo was taken in Buenos Aires. Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis last week. (Bergoglio family photo / Associated Press)

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis, as a boy in an undated family photo. (Bergoglio family photo / AFP/Getty Images)

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Then-seminarian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, pictured in 1966, taught literature and psychology at El Salvador School in Buenos Aires. Bergoglio was elected pope last week. (El Salvador School / Associated Press)

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Pope Francis’ family, the Bergoglios: Top row -- Maria Elena, Regina Sivori, Alberto, Jorge Mario, Oscar, Marta and her husband, Enrique Navaja. Bottom row -- Juan, Maria de Bergoglio and Mario. Mario and Regina were the parents of Jorge Mario, Maria Elena, Oscar, Marta and Alberto. Juan and Maria were Mario Bergoglio’s parents, Jorge Mario’s paternal grandparents. (Bergoglio family photo / Associated Press)

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Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio celebrates Mass in an undated photo. He became Pope Francis last week. (Sergio Rubin / AFP/Getty Images)

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Priest Jorge Mario Bergoglio, right, and priest Pedro Arupe celebrate Mass at the church at El Salvador School in Buenos Aires in 1973. Bergoglio is the first pope from the Americas. (El Salvador School / Associated Press)

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Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio visits a shantytown in Buenos Aires in an undated photo. (Sergio Rubin / AFP/Getty Images)

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In 1998, Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio attends the inauguration of a chapel in a shantytown in Buenos Aires. Bergoglio became Pope Francis last week. (Parroquia Virgen de Caacupe / AFP/Getty Images)

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Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio poses with Angela Espinola, 12, left, and her sister Eliza, 9, during an Easter procession in Buenos Aires in April 2000. (The Espinola family / Associated Press)

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Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio takes part in a foot bath ceremony in Buenos Aires in March 2005. Bergoglio became Pope Francis. (Daniel Vides / AFP/Getty Images)

By Tom Kington

Feb. 5, 2016 4:25 PM PT

Reporting from Rome —

For the first time ever, a pope will meet with a patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Vatican has announced.

The meeting is aimed at improving ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which broke away in the year 1054.

The globe-trotting Pope Francis is scheduled to meet Patriarch Kirill in Havana on Feb. 12.

“The importance of this event is this is the first time the pope meets the patriarch — it is extremely important for ecumenism,” Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said at a news conference Friday.

The Orthodox Church split away nearly 1,000 years ago amid disagreements over liturgy and power-sharing. Over the centuries, the relationship has been full of rancor and distrust.

The Vatican and the wider Orthodox Church’s spiritual leadership have moved to patch things up over the last century, and Francis has met its current spiritual head, Patriarch Bartholomew. But the relationship has remained troubled because the powerful Russian branch, whose 150 million members account for two-thirds of all Orthodox Christians, has kept its distance.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II called the eastern and western churches the two lungs of Christianity and wanted to visit Moscow. But his plans to establish new Catholic dioceses in Russia only deepened the rift, with Russia accusing him of trying to convert Orthodox Christians to Catholicism.

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Lombardi said the historic meeting this month follows two years of diplomacy. “This is not improvised,” he said.

The meeting will take place in the airport in Havana, a location that suits the longtime desire of both churches to meet on neutral ground as well as the schedules of Kirill and Francis. The Russian patriarch will be in Cuba as part of a tour of Latin America, while Francis will stop at the airport on his way to Mexico.

Cuba also has significance because it was for many years an ideological front line between Catholicism and Russian communism, while in 2014, Francis helped reopen diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S.

The two leaders will meet for nearly two hours before signing a joint declaration at an event hosted by Cuban leader Raul Castro.

The signing, Lombardi said, will signify “a dialogue that can overcome previous obstacles.”

Metropolitan Illarion, foreign policy chief of the Russian Orthodox Church, said Friday there were still basic disagreements to resolve, including the role of Orthodox churches in western Ukraine.

The killings of Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Middle East conflicts were a key motive for scheduling the meeting, he said.

“The situation in the Middle East, in northern and central Africa and in other regions where extremists are perpetrating a genocide of Christians requires immediate action and an even closer cooperation between Christian churches,” Illarion said.

“In this tragic situation, we need to put aside internal disagreements and pool efforts to save Christianity in the regions where it is subject to most severe persecution.”

The rift between the churches goes far beyond a battle for converts in Russia. One Vatican expert said it is largely about who would come out on top if they ever reunited. There are 1.2 billion Catholics.

“It’s about who has the bigger hat,” said Robert Mickens, editor in chief of Global Pulse. “The Russians are afraid of being swallowed up.”

Mickens said the Vatican has traditionally viewed itself as superior to the Russian Orthodox Church. But Francis has made friends in Moscow by behaving more like an equal.

Mickens added that the Russians had decided to act while Francis was still in office. “They fear a conservative backlash in Rome after Francis,” he said.

A key turn in church relations came in November 2014, when Francis bowed to Bartholomew during their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, said Gerard O’Connell of the news organization Vatican Insider. The rapprochement “has a lot to do with the humility shown by Francis to the Orthodox Church,” he said.

Kington is a special correspondent.

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