Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox church, have met in Cuba in a historic act which some believe may have political motivations

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Pope Francis has met the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, in Cuba. The meeting marks the first encounter in history between a Roman Catholic pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch in the nearly 1,000 years since Eastern Orthodoxy split with Rome.

“Finally!” the pope exclaimed as he embraced Patriarch Kirill in the small, wood-paneled VIP room of Havana’s airport, where the three-hour encounter was taking place. “We are brothers.”

Pope Francis, dressed in white with a skullcap, and Patriarch Kirill, wearing a tall, domed hat that dangled a white stole over black robes, joined arms and kissed one another three times on the cheek when they met inside the terminal.

Speaking through an interpreter, the patriarch told the pope: “Now things are easier.”

They then sat down for a chat with aides on either side.



Church officials have insisted that Patriarch Kirill’s historic meeting with Pope Francis is apolitical and meant to address the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.



At a meeting with journalists on Tuesday on the grounds of Moscow’s Danilov monastery, the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church, representatives of Patriarch Kirill and the church said the papal meeting had finally become possible because the Orthodox church no longer feels that the Catholic church is trying to expand its influence in Russia and Ukraine.

They also praised Pope Francis, who has met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, several times and joined him in opposing a western military intervention in Syria.

Asked if Putin had approved the Cuba rendezvous, Patriarch Kirill’s spokesman, Alexander Volkov, would only say there was a “100% guarantee that the meeting is between two church leaders and has no relation to politics”.

But Russian media have speculated that the visit with Pope Francis was actually a political mission to reduce the country’s isolation amid western sanctions over Ukraine and criticism for its Syria bombing campaign.



The Russian Orthodox church has historically had close ties to the state, and Patriarch Kirill and Putin have an especially close relationship, with the patriarch calling Putin a “miracle from God” and backing him in the 2012 election. Furthermore, to organise the meeting, Patriarch Kirill had to outmaneuver hardliners in the church, and Orthodox fundamentalist websites have branded him a “heretic” for agreeing to speak with the “antichrist” pope.

According to analyst Alexei Makarkin, the only reason the patriarch agreed to the meeting was because Putin wanted him to. The main topic of the discussion – persecution of Christians in the Middle East – plays to the Russian president’s advantage, he said.

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“Russia is now being criticised by the west and the Arab world for its position on Syria, and so any societal forces that won’t condemn Russia are useful to it,” Makarkin said. The pope is “not an ally of Russia, but his argument for the protection of Christians can be used by Russia to justify its campaign in Syria”, he added.

With the patriarch-pope meeting, the Russian Orthodox church was both backing up Kremlin policy and “stressing that it plays an important role among Christian churches” ahead of a historic gathering of Orthodox churches in Crete in June, according to scholar and political analyst Masha Lipman. The church’s need to prove itself outside Russia is made more acute by its loss of influence in Ukraine due to the conflict there, she added.

The pope was scheduled to remain in Cuba for three and a half hours before continuing on to Mexico for a five-day visit.

Patriarch Kirill arrived in Havana on Thursday and was also greeted by the Cuban president, Raúl Castro, an ally of Russia who also received Pope Francis in Cuba five months ago.

The Argentinian pontiff previously played a role in rapprochement between the US and Cuba, which restored diplomatic relations last year after a 54-year break.

This article includes material from Reuters and the Associated Press

