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950 Years Later, 2 Churches May Reunify

Catholic, Orthodox leaders draw up road map to end schism

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 16, 2007 12:26 PM CST

(Newser) – Nearly a millennium after they split, the Catholic and Orthodox churches have published a joint document outlining first steps towards reunification. The Ravenna Document imagines a reunified church with the Pope at its head and proposes a new council composed of Catholic and Orthodox bishops that could formally end the schism of 1054, the London Times reports.

Pope Benedict XVI has made the reunification of the Catholic Church one of his top priorities, and the document acknowledges that "elements of the true Church are present outside the Catholic communion." The Orthodox church's membership is divided on possible reunification, and disputes between the leadership in Constantinople and Moscow might prevent a complete healing of the rift.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians takes a part in mass in a chapel in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov)
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians takes a part in mass in a chapel in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Petar...   (Associated Press)
Pope Benedict XVI looks on during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)
Pope Benedict XVI looks on during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)   (Associated Press)
Pope Benedict XVI, with red mantle, holds onto a support bar, on his new popemobile as he arrives for the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)
Pope Benedict XVI, with red mantle, holds onto a support bar, on his new popemobile as he arrives for the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Plinio...   (Associated Press)
Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful at the end of an audience granted to the brotherhoods of the Italian dioceses, in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful at the end of an audience granted to the brotherhoods of the Italian dioceses, in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)   (Associated Press)
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