Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Pope Francis will hold a historic first meeting with Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba next week.

The Russian Orthodox Church said the “persecution of Christians” would be the central theme of the meeting.

Pope Francis will stop over in Cuba on his way to Mexico on February 12.

It is the first papal meeting with a Russian Church head since the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity split in the 11th Century.

The meeting is due to take place at Havana airport, where the two leaders will sign a joint declaration.

Patriarch Kirill is also due in Cuba for an official visit at the same time as Pope Francis’s stopover in Havana.

Patriarch Kirill has been the head of the Russian Orthodox Church since February 2009, while Pope Francis took up his role in March 2013.

The Roman Catholic Church has more than a billion members worldwide, while the Russian Orthodox Church numbers about 165 million.

If Jesus were to meet them in Cuba, he will tell them, “Sons, I applaud your work to save a couple of million Christians in the Middle East. Every human life is precious and sacred and this is wonderful work.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” Jesus will quote from the Gospel of Matthew.

Both the Pope and the Patriarch will genuflex before Jesus and start cataloging their efforts for the Middle East peace process. Jesus will have both of them sit on his either side, on a Persian carpet, like many would do in the Middle East.

Jesus will say, “this is a beautiful mat,” pointing to the carpet, “In my time we did not have these, at least I never saw one, where did you get this from?” he would ask.

As the Pope and the Patriarch begin to reply, Jesus cuts them off and says, “My sons, this is a very opportune time in history to save the whole of humanity; are you open to listen to my ideas?”

The Pope and the Patriarch bow their heads in sincere submission, “We are all ears, oh our master.”

“My dear sons you have to read the history of the Ecumenical Councils and all the schisms in Christianity better to come to a fuller understanding of theology.  If you did that you will not only understand each other better, but also understand Judaism and Islam better and by the way, I want both of you to also include the Gospel of Thomas in canonical Bible. It is the best and the truest Gospel. It pains me a lot that they excluded it from the Canon in the fourth century as they put the 27 books together to make the New Testament.”

“I know you will be talking about the great schism between your two churches in the eleventh century and the term Filioque, won’t you,” Jesus will ask?

“Of course,” both the Pope and the Patriarch will rhyme together.

Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta, 1738–9 (St. Gaudenzio Church at Ivrea). Artist’s depiction of God the Father, Jesus and Holy Ghost

Jesus will say, “I know your private secretaries have briefed you, before you left Rome and Moscow, a few days back about the issue of Filioque, but, let me refresh your memories, from an account from Wikipedia. By the way this encyclopedia is a great service to the whole of humanity, without any distinction of religion, race or gender.” Jesus will smile broadly and will add, “This Filioque is like a spell, if you chant it 33 times every day and read about it 5 times a day until the Easter, you will have better understanding of our God, who is your father and my father.” Then Jesus will share a golden paper with them with the following quote from Wikipedia:

Filioque (literally means ‘and from the Son’) is a Latin term added to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (NCC) which is not in the original version. It has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Latin term Filioque describes the double procession of the Holy Spirit and is translated into the English clause “and the Son” in that creed:

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father ⟨and the Son⟩.

who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.

Whether that term, Filioque, is included, and how it is translated and understood, can have important implications for how one understands the central Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. For some, the term implies a serious underestimation of the Father‘s role in the Trinity; for others, denial of what it expresses implies a serious underestimation of the role of the Son in the Trinity. Over time, the term became a symbol of conflict between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, although there have been attempts at resolving the conflict. Among the early attempts at harmonization are the works of Maximus the Confessor, who notably was sainted independently by both Eastern and Western churches.

The Filioque is included in the form of the NCC used in most Western Christian churches, first appearing in the 6th century.[2] It was accepted by the popes only in 1014, and is rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches. It is not in the Greek text of this Creed, attributed to the second ecumenical council, Constantinople I (381), which says that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father”, without additions of any kind, such as “and the Son” or “alone”;[3] the Latin text now in use in the Western Church speaks of the Holy Spirit as proceeding “from the Father and the Son”.

Differences over this doctrine and the question of papal primacy have been and remain primary causes of schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Western churches.[4][5] The term has been an ongoing source of conflict between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, contributing, in part, to the East–West Schism of 1054 and proving to be an obstacle to attempts to reunify the two sides.[6]

“Let me tell you,” Jesus will say, “This one word, Filioque, is a key to open the mystery of Trinity.”

“Constantine was a good guy, but he messed up Monotheism of my Jewish faith,” Jesus will add, “by presiding over the First Ecumenical Council.”

“My dear sons, I know you are busy guys and have a press conference to show your unity and friendship to the media and the larger world, in an hour,” Jesus says in a loving low tone, “So, I will just leave you with a short video to watch, may be later tonight: Video: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee,” Jesus will add.

Jesus adds with a suggestive wink, “but, if you do not carefully watch this video,” he warns,  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

As they part, Jesus asks Patriarch Kirill, “have you heard of the Muslim Times?” The Patriarch, “Yes master, once President Vladimir Putin mentioned it to me, when a news about his inauguration of the largest mosque in Moscow was nicely covered by this international blog.”

“I want you to eyeball weekly, some of the materials they cover about religion and secularism. It would go a long way in bringing the 7 billion of my children closer in universal brotherhood and sisterhood,” are Jesus’ last remarks.

Having said that Jesus walks through the wall of the room, and as the Pope and the Patriarch rush to the next room, they do not find him there and go to their meeting room, reminding each other of the video they need to watch later in the day: Video: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.