Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Church leader hold historic meeting in Cuba

Vatican

Pope Francis, right, meets with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Havana, Cuba, February 12, 2016.

Pope Francis arrived in Havana on Friday to meet the head of the Russian Orthodox Church nearly 1,000 years after Eastern Orthodoxy split with Rome, marking the first encounter in history between a Roman Catholic pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch.

The two religious leaders, guests of a Communist government, will address the millennium-long rift between the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, which arose out of differences in practices and political orientation during the first millenia AD, exacerbated by the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.

"It's a matter of each of the two churches being very deeply enculturated in its own setting and having difficulty understanding the other," Justo Gonzalez, an author who has written about the history of Christianity, told NPR.

While the Vatican has improve relations with some elements of Orthodox Christianity, "the Russian Church accused Catholics of trying to convert Russians after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989," according to CNN. Relations have been frosty since.

Political undertones

Cuban President Raul Castro and Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the church's highest representative in Cuba, greeted the pope as he got off the plane, minutes before Francis met Patriarch Kirill.

Francis, dressed in white with a skullcap, and Kirill, wearing a tall, domed hat that dangled a white stole over black robes, joined arms and kissed on both cheeks when they met inside the terminal. They then sat down for a chat with aides on either side.

AFP

They were expected to unite in an appeal for an end to persecution and killing of Christians in the Middle East.

Their meeting, announced just a week ago, also carried political overtones, coming at a time of Russian disagreements with the West over Syria and Ukraine.

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

Kirill arrived in Havana on Thursday and was also greeted by Castro, an ally of Russia who also received Francis in Cuba just five months ago.

Thomson Reuters

Pope Francis wears a Sombrero hat he received as a gift by a Mexican journalist aboard an airplane to Havana.

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

Now the pope is seeking to repair a much longer rupture. Eastern Orthodoxy split with Rome in 1054, and today the Russian church counts some 165 million of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians.

Kirill, on a longer stay, will also visit Cuba's small Russian Orthodox Church, built between 2004 to 2008 and attended by Russian holdovers from the decades of Soviet influence in Cuba.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the Russian church, which in turn has backed Kremlin foreign policy, most notably in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Putin has also improved relations with Cuba, which were strained following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Andrew Hay)