Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Bartholomew I, prayed together Thursday after meeting for private talks, the Vatican said. Bartholomew, who holds the title of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) recited together with Benedict Latin versions of the Our Father and Hail Mary prayers, news reports said.
The Vatican did not immediately provide details on the talks.
During the visit, which marks the third meeting between the pontiff and the patriarch, Bartholomew was accompanied by a delegation including Ioannis of Pergamo, the Orthodox president of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, a Vatican statement said.
Bartholomew met Benedict when the pontiff visited Istanbul in November 2006, and also at an international meeting for peace held in Naples in October 2007.
The patriarch was scheduled later Thursday to preside at an academic function at Rome's Pontifical Oriental Institute for the 90th anniversary of its foundation. Bartholomew gained his doctorate at the same institution.
Bartholomew has been at the forefront of attempts to strengthen bonds between Orthodox communities, who are divided into national churches, as well in healing the rift between Eastern Christians and the Western Roman Catholic Church which occurred with the Great Schism of 1054.
