HAVANA, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Pope Francis left the Vatican on Friday morning for his first trip to Mexico, en route to which he will stop in Cuba to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Krill.
The heads of the two churches have not met face-to-face since before the event known as the Great Schism, which occurred more than 1,000 years ago. Francis had previously met with the patriarch of Constantinople in 2014.