Pope meets top Russian Orthodox Church official

(September 30, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday met the chief ecumenist of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Held at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, the meeting was the third encounter between the pope and the metropolitan. The Vatican press office announced the meeting, but did not provide details. Metropolitan Hilarion later told Vatican Radio he is always encouraged by Pope Benedict’s “spirit, by his courage and by his dedication to the life of the church worldwide." He said he was impressed by the pope's knowledge of Orthodox tradition and how closely the Pope follows the official Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue. With what is called the Great Schism of 1054, also known as the East-West Schism, Christianity split into the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople, in what is Turkey today, and the Roman Catholic, in Rome. Later in the 16th century, another major split came about in the form of Protestantism within the Roman Catholic Church spearheaded by Martin Luther, John Calvin and others. Today, the three largest groups in the world of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the various Protestant Churches.