ishtartv.com-
Reuters
MOSCOW,
Feb 5 (Reuters) - The patriarch of Russia's Orthodox Church will take part in
an historic first meeting with the Roman Catholic pontiff on Feb. 12 because of
the need for a joint response to the persecution of Christians in the Middle
East, the Orthodox Church said.
Senior
Orthodox cleric Metropolitan Hilarion said that long-standing differences
between the two churches remain, most notably a row over the status of the
Uniate Church, in Ukraine.
But
he said these differences were being put aside so that Patriarch Kirill and
Pope Francis could come together over persecution of Christians.
This
issue will be the central item on the agenda for their meeting, in Havana,
Cuba, the cleric said.
"The
situation shaping up today in the Middle East, in North and Central Africa, and
in some other regions where extremists are carrying out a genuine genocide of
the Christian population, demands urgent measures and an even closer
cooperation between the Christian churches," Hilarion said.
"We
need to put aside internal disagreements at this tragic time and join efforts
to save Christians in the regions where they are subject to the most atrocious
persecution."
The
meeting could be a hugely significant step towards healing the 1,000-year-old
rift between the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, which split in
the Great Schism of 1054.
Hilarion
said the first-ever meeting between the heads of the two Christian churches
would not take place in Europe because Patriarch Kirill had objected to this
idea from the very beginning.
"Because
it is namely Europe with which this tragic history of divisions and conflicts
among Christians is linked," Hilarion said. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov;
Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alexander Winning)
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