An encounter between Francisco I and Kirill I: a small step in an approach full of uncertainties

Abstract

The first meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia held in Havana on 12 February was a historic event, a fact unanimously recognised by all. However, great illusions should not be created as Francisco and Kirill made only small steps in the rapprochement between the two largest Christian churches in an atmosphere of ancient distrust. Using a common allegory found in Russian nature, the head of the Catholic Church and the head of the Orthodox Church began to abruptly tread on a very thin layer of ice covering the lake.