February 16, 2015
Pope-Patriarch meeting seen by Russians as significant
Pope Francis, left, embraces Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after signing a joint declaration on religious unity at the Jose Marti International airport in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. The two religious leaders met for the first-ever papal meeting, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity. less
MOSCOW (AP) — Russians ranging from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to ordinary citizens are seeing the landmark meeting of the heads of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches as having significance far beyond religious doctrine.
The meeting in Havana, Cuba, on Friday between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill was the first between the two church's leaders. Popes have previously met with other leaders of Orthodox churches; the two churches split about a millennium ago.
Russia's is the largest of the Orthodox churches.
Medvedev, speaking Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, said the pope-patriarch meeting could encourage closer relations between Moscow and the West.
"Just yesterday we saw a bright example in the religious area of how the movement of one toward the other is beginning," he said.
Yevgeny Fedorov , a 59-year-old construction worker, held a similar view.
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