Protesting Orthodox priest heckles Pope on Greece go to

Pope Francis was heckled by an aged Greek Orthodox priest on Saturday as he arrived for a gathering with the top of the nation’s Orthodox Church, proof of the lingering mistrust between some Orthodox and Catholics 1,200 years after Christianity was cleaved in half.
“Pope, you are a heretic!” the priest shouted 3 times as Francis arrived on the residence of Archbishop Ieronymos within the Greek capital of Athens. The protester fell to the bottom as police led him away, and Francis appeared to not discover as he walked into the residence for his non-public assembly with the Orthodox chief.
The incident adopted small protests towards the pope on his earlier cease, the island of Cyprus, which can be predominantly Christian Orthodox.
During Francis’ journey, the leaders of two church buildings renewed a promise to beat centuries of distrust and competitors for affect. In distinction to the lone heckling priest, Ieronymos welcomed Francis “with a feeling of honor and fraternity.”
Francis’ state go to to Greece comes 20 years after St. John Paul II made the primary such go to for the reason that Great Schism, and used the event to apologize for the sins “by action or omission” dedicated by Catholics towards Orthodox over the centuries.

Francis renewed that apology Saturday in entrance of Ieronymos and different Orthodox prelates, saying he was ashamed for the actions of Catholics who, due to a “thirst for advantage and power, gravely weakened our communion.”
Catholics and Orthodox cut up over a number of points, together with the primacy of the pope.
Ieronymos, for his half, advised Francis on Saturday that he shared the pope’s imaginative and prescient to forge sturdy ties to face world challenges just like the migration disaster and local weather change.