Inside the Historic Pope of Rome-Patriarch of Moscow Meeting Today

Today,12 February,the first ever meeting of a Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and a Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia,who is the spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church,will take place at Jose Marti Airport in Havana,Cuba.One of the main topics on the agenda of His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for their private two-hour dialogue is the crisis between Russia and Ukraine in general,and the tension between the Vatican's Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine and the Moscow Patriarchate's Metropolitanate of Kiev and All Ukraine,which is the only canonical Orthodox presence in Ukraine,in particular.Two other Ukrainian Orthodox churches that proclaimed their own independence are not recognised by the other autocephalous Orthodox Churches.
Pope Francis is on his way to Mexico,where he will seek to revive a declining Catholic and address social justice concerns until next Thursday.Patriarch Kirill is on a visit to Russian Orthodox communities in Cuba,Paraguay and Brazil.*
On the agenda is the problem of Greek Catholics in Ukraine,but it will certainly not be resolved at once,Patriarch Kirill's press secretary,Father Alexander Volkov,was quoted as saying by the Russian TASS news agency.The topic of Ukraine,Eastern Rite Catholicism and proselytism will be discussed.These issues remain unresolved.The Roman Catholic Church in its dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church has invariably emphasised this.And we understand that this theme is unlikely to be resolved now or in the foreseeable future.The meeting,however,will be a chance to discuss the theme in real time and,possibly,arrive at some conclusions,because our brothers in Ukraine still have to suffer.
Of course,it cannot be ruled out that if everything is fine,more meetings may follow.First,we should wait for the meeting of the Patriarch and the Pope to take place.Then we will see what the world community's reaction will be like.In any case it is necessary to wait for the meeting to end and see the response and actions following the calls from the heads of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion,head of the ROC's Department of External Church Relations,was quoted by TASS as saying that the situation has worsened due to the latest developments in Ukraine,in which Ukrainian Greek Catholics were directly involved under anti-Russian and Russophobic slogans.
At the same time,Patriarch Kirill was quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency as saying on Monday that the Roman Catholic Church's stance on the Ukraine crisis demonstrates positive dynamics,primarily thanks to their clear understanding of the need for Orthodox and Catholic believers to act jointly in order to protect traditional Christian values and counter modern challenges such as secularism,discrimination against Christians,family crisis and the dilution of moral principles in private and social life.*
The two spiritual leaders will sign a declaration on the contemporary persecution of Christians in such countries as Iraq and Syria and other common concerns,such as those mentioned by Patriarch Kirill in the remarks that were quoted by Interfax.Despite the symbolic overtones of this historic encounter,the reunification of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches will not be on the agenda,Patriarch Kirill's press secretary Father Volkov pointed out.The two largest Christian denominations drifted apart after 1054,primarily over the role of the papacy and one clause in the Nicene creed,a basic statement of faith that both Churches recite every Sunday,yet in slightly different forms.