Newsademic British English edition 260

o p e
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p a t r ia r c h
 
m e e t in g
Two religious leaders met in H a­
vana, the capital of Cuba, on 12th 
February. Pope Francis and Patriarch 
Kirill greeted each other at the city’s 
airport. It was a historic meeting. 
The pope leads the Roman Catholic 
Church. The patriarch is head of the 
Russian Orthodox Church. This was 
the first time that the leaders o f these 
religions had met since their church­
es divided almost 1,000 years ago.
Two o f Jesus Christ’s early fol­
lowers led the early Christian move­
ment. Christians believe that Jesus is 
the Son of God. St Paul became the 
greatest preacher of this Christian 
movement. He is believed to have 
lived between the years 5 and 57 
CE. St Paul’s beliefs are known as 
Pauline Christianity. In 313 CE, the 
Roman Empire declared that Pauline 
Christianity was an official, or legiti­
mate, religion. In 380 CE it became 
the Em pire’s official religion. Then, 
it became known as Roman Catholi­
cism, or the Roman Catholic Church.
For the next 700 years all Chris­
tians were Catholics. In 1054 there 
was a split, or schism. It was be­
tween the Roman Catholic Church 
and what became known as the 
Eastern Orthodox Church. In the 
early 1500s there was another split, 
or divide. This is called the Prot­
estant Reformation. Its leader was 
Martin Luther (1483 - 1586). He 
was a German theologian, or person 
who studies religious beliefs.
Protestants believe that all God’s 
teachings are written in the Bible. 
They call it ‘the Word o f God’. Cath­
olics believe that their traditions and 
beliefs are just as important as the 
Bible. For example, Catholics pray 
to saints and believe in purgatory. 
Yet neither is mentioned in the B i­
ble. Catholics say that purgatory is

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