Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Kevin ClarkeFebruary 11, 2016

The surprise announcement from Rome of the upcoming meeting between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Pope Francis “shows definitively Francis’ vocation as a pontiff, a bridge-builder,” Kevin Ahern, an assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College said on Feb. 5.

“[The pope] is confronting the walls of indifference in regards to migration and refugees and also the walls that are dividing people in the church,” Ahern said. “I believe it is significant that this meeting is happening as both leaders are on missions to Latin America. True unity and true dialogue can only be found in common mission.”

The historic meeting, scheduled for Feb. 12 in Cuba—a short stopover on the pope’s way to Mexico—is something “many have wanted to happen for over 50 years,” he added. It will be the first between a pope and the Russian patriarch since the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity separated almost 1,000 years ago. However welcome the meeting is to the wider Christian world, it will surely also be the source of anxiety within specific faith communities.

“The Eastern Catholic churches will find this difficult,” Ahern says. “I imagine the Ukrainian Catholics will wonder what this means, given there is still a war in their country.” Ahern will be watching to see how much that conflict will be a factor in any upcoming discussions between the Holy See and the Russian Orthodox church.

Russian Orthodox officials said the planned meeting is not a signal that decades of tension have been resolved, but emphasizes the need to work together on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, director of foreign relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, told reporters on Feb. 5 that “in the present tragic situation, it is necessary to put aside internal disagreements and unite efforts for saving Christianity in the regions where it is subjected to the most severe persecution.”

As exciting as the historic meeting between these two church leaders is, Ahern is already looking beyond the meeting in Cuba. “Might this then put the pope in a situation to bridge divides between the Russian and Greek” Orthodox churches? he asks. “A big moment for the ecumenical vision of Vatican II would be a meeting between the pope, the Russians and the Greeks.

“The role of Cuba in bringing about this meeting is very interesting,” he adds. Ahern wonders if the meeting already suggests fruit from the Holy See’s recent efforts to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States and the connections with Cuban officials made during that initiative. “Clearly, Cuba presents itself as a neutral space,” Ahern says. “There was no way for them to meet in Russia or definitively not in Rome. So here we have a very strange situation, where months after the Holy See helps to negotiate between the United States and Cuba, Cuba is helping to host this meeting.”

In terms of other areas of global concern to the Holy See, warmer relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, and by extension presumably political leadership in Moscow, “might also help address two of Pope Francis’ major agenda items this year: the Syrian crisis and China.”

Ahern says, “I would expect some movement on joint Catholic-Orthodox support for Christians in the Middle East. But in a way that may tone down the unquestioned support for Assad.”

Pope Francis has also recently made efforts to reach out to Beijing, and “this meeting may also help provide Russian support for the church’s new efforts in China.”

“This is a very tricky situation,” Ahern says. “Like the Eastern Catholics and Russia, many Catholics in the China region (including bishops in Hong Kong) do not want the pope to dialogue” with Beijing. It would appear that Pope Francis will have to do more than just build bridges in the future; he’ll have to get folks on either side to join him in walking across them.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
William Rydberg
8 years 1 month ago
In my opinion, one ought to tread carefully near any documents that Cardinal Koch has responsibility for oversight. It's not like he has not already a reputation for being a people-pleaser. In my humble opinion, the last document he and his crew handled dated December 10th, 2015, likely may turn in to a sad moment similar to the Galileo incident that a future Pope may have to "walk back" in a 100 years or so. As for the Ukrainian Greek Catholics, I don't know how friendly they have been with his (Koch's Team), because in my opinion, if they are anything aligned personality-wise like the Swiss-German Cardinal they may be overly sensitive so as to want to avoid historical/detailed issues (I.e. Too many seeming "minor issues"). Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek Catholics are serious Christian people. Just how much input from Ukrainian Greek Catholics was sought or just how cooperative Ukrainian Greek Catholics have been up to the creation of the document final draft is the "64,000 dollar" question on issues affecting especially the Ukrainian Greek Catholics. And I suspect that we will never get to the bottom, at least in our lifetimes. Pray for everybody concerned. Blessed be the Holy Trinity... I am glad that the document is signed in spite of all this. Just my opinion...

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024