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Why Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill Made Christian History in Cuba

(UPDATED) ISIS persecution of Christians prompts first meeting between Catholic and Orthodox primates since 1054.

Update (Feb. 12): World Watch Monitor offers a summary of the history-making meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in Cuba’s Havana airport.

Gathering for the first time in nearly 1,000 years to jointly address the record levels of modern-day persecution of Christians, the leaders of Roman Catholicism and Russian Eastern Orthodoxy wrote:

In our determination to undertake all that is necessary to overcome the historical divergences we have inherited, we wish to combine our efforts to give witness to the Gospel of Christ and to the shared heritage of the Church of the first millennium, responding together to the challenges of the contemporary world. Orthodox and Catholics must learn to give unanimously witness in those spheres in which this is possible and necessary. Human civilization has entered into a period of epochal change. Our Christian conscience and our pastoral responsibility compel us not to remain passive in the face of challenges requiring a shared response.

We call upon the international community to act urgently in order to prevent the further expulsion of Christians from the Middle East. In raising our voice in defence of persecuted Christians, we wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence.

We bow before the martyrdom of those who, at the cost of their own lives, have given witness to the truth of the Gospel, preferring death to the denial of Christ. We believe that these martyrs of our times, who belong to various Churches but who are united by their shared suffering, are a pledge of the unity of Christians. It is to you who suffer for Christ’s …

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