The meeting between Pope
Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kyrill in Cuba on Friday
will last approximately three hours, Russian news agency
Interfax reported Thursday citing a source at the Moscow
Patriarchate.
The meeting at Havana's Jose' Marti' International Airport
will begin at 2.15 pm local time, with 15 minutes open to the
public.
At the end of the meeting the pope and Kyrill will exchange
gifts and sign a joint declaration, the contents of which were
"agreed" on Wednesday evening, according to Metropolitan
Hilarion Alfeyev, head of the external relations department of
the Russian Orthodox Church.
However, the declaration can be modified during the course
of the meeting between the two religious leaders, Alfeyev said.
The "historic meeting" has been hailed as "a further step
towards the unity and the common testimony of Christians",
according to Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary, head of Europe's
bishops.
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