Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign agreement in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 12 (acn) Francis, Bishop of Rome and Pope of the Catholic Church, and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, signed an agreement in Cuba this Friday.

After two hours of talks, described by Francis as ¨open and frank¨, in the presence of host President Raul Castro, the two leaders signed the historical document.

Kirill spoke about the needed cooperation between the two churches that can define the future of Christianity throughout the world. ¨Today both churches can work actively in defense of Christians from all over the work and work responsibly in a joint way so there would be no wars, for life to be respected everywhere. To strengthen the bases of morality inside families and society

Francis stressed the common ground by saying that ¨We talked as brothers, we are baptized in the same faith, and we are both bishops¨, but acknowledged that there is still a long way ahead for them to achieve a true unity

Francis thanked the teams from both churches that worked for a long time in the draft of this document.

He also thanked Cuba, its people and its President for hosting this historical meeting, and added that if Cuba ¨keeps going this way, it will become the world capital of unity¨

This was the first meeting in history at the highest level of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches and has brought hope to millions of Christians all over the world.