ASUNCION (Sputnik) — The Russian spiritual leader and the Catholic pontiff met in Cuba last Friday where they signed a joint declaration.
"Importantly, we discussed how Christian values are being marginalized in lives of people in several countries. Europe must not lose its Christian roots," Patriarch Kirill said at a meeting with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes in Asuncion.
The Russian patriarch stressed that "de-Christianization" was a dangerous phenomenon in Europe that threatened to hurt it spiritually and culturally.
"Europe will be a different place without Christians in its social life," he noted.
The February 12 meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis at a Havana airport marked the first time a Catholic pope and an Orthodox patriarch met since Christianity split into western and eastern branches in 1054.
