Editing Pope John Paul II (section)

===Churches of the East===
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2022}}
Although the contact between the [[Holy See]] and many Christians of the East had never totally ceased, communion had been interrupted since ancient times. Again, the history of conflict in Central Europe was a complex part of John Paul II's personal cultural heritage which made him all the more determined to react so as to attempt to overcome abiding difficulties, given that relatively speaking the [[Holy See]] and the non-Catholic Eastern Churches are close in many points of faith.

==== Eastern Orthodox Church ====
{{Main|Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Pope John Paul II-1.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II and [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2000]]
In May 1999, John Paul II visited Romania on the invitation from Patriarch [[Teoctist Arăpaşu]] of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]]. This was the first time a pope had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]] in 1054.<ref name="Teoctist" /> On his arrival, the Patriarch and the [[President of Romania]], [[Emil Constantinescu]], greeted the pope.<ref name="Teoctist" /> The Patriarch stated, "The second millennium of Christian history began with a painful wounding of the unity of the Church; the end of this millennium has seen a real commitment to restoring Christian unity."<ref name="Teoctist" />

On 23–27 June 2001, John Paul&nbsp;II visited Ukraine, another heavily Orthodox nation, at the invitation of the [[President of Ukraine]] and bishops of the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]].<ref name="Ukraine" /> The Pope spoke to leaders of the [[All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations]], pleading for "open, tolerant and honest dialogue".<ref name="Ukraine" /> About 200 thousand people attended the liturgies celebrated by the Pope in [[Kyiv]], and the liturgy in [[Lviv]] gathered nearly one and a half million faithful.<ref name="Ukraine" /> John Paul&nbsp;II said that an end to the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] was one of his fondest wishes.<ref name="Ukraine" /> Healing divisions between the Catholic and [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]] regarding Latin and [[Byzantine]] traditions was clearly of great personal interest. For many years, John Paul II sought to facilitate dialogue and unity stating as early as 1988 in ''Euntes in mundum'', "Europe has two lungs, it will never breathe easily until it uses both of them."{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

During his 2001 travels, John Paul&nbsp;II became the first pope to visit Greece in 1291 years.<ref name="Macedonian" /><ref name="Associated" /> In [[Athens]], the pope met with Archbishop [[Christodoulos of Athens]], the head of the [[Church of Greece]].<ref name="Macedonian" /> After a private 30-minute meeting, the two spoke publicly. Christodoulos read a list of "13 offences" of the Catholic Church against the Eastern Orthodox Church since the Great Schism,<ref name="Macedonian" /> including the [[sack of Constantinople]] by the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, and bemoaned the lack of apology from the Catholic Church, saying "Until now, there has not been heard a single request for pardon" for the "maniacal crusaders of the 13th century".<ref name="Macedonian" />

The pope responded by saying "For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us forgiveness", to which Christodoulos immediately applauded. John Paul&nbsp;II said that the sacking of Constantinople was a source of "profound regret" for Catholics.<ref name="Macedonian" /> Later John Paul II and Christodoulos met on a spot where [[Paul of Tarsus]] had once preached to Athenian Christians. They issued a common declaration saying, "We shall do everything in our power, so that the Christian roots of Europe and its Christian soul may be preserved.... We condemn all recourse to violence, [[proselytism]] and [[fanaticism]], in the name of religion."<ref name="Macedonian" /> The two leaders then said the [[Lord's Prayer]] together, breaking an Orthodox taboo against praying with Catholics.<ref name="Macedonian" />

The pope had said throughout his pontificate that one of his greatest dreams was to visit Russia,<ref>{{cite news |title=The Distance Between the First and Third Rome |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-distance-between-the-first-and-third-rome?barrier=accesspaylog |work=[[Project Syndicate]] |date=12 January 2001}}</ref> but this never occurred. He attempted to solve the problems that had arisen over centuries between the Catholic and [[Russian Orthodox]] churches, and in 2004 gave them a 1730 copy of the lost icon of [[Our Lady of Kazan]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

==== Armenian Apostolic Church ====
John Paul II was determined to maintain good relations with the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], whose separation from the [[Holy See]] dated to Christian antiquity. In 1996, he brought the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church closer by agreeing with Armenian Archbishop [[Karekin II]] on Christ's nature.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-24-me-30550-story.html |title=Pope to Make First Visit to Armenia |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=24 April 1999 |access-date=6 December 2014|agency=Associated Press }}</ref> During an audience in 2000, John Paul II and Karekin II, by then the [[Catholicos of All Armenians]], issued a joint statement condemning the [[Armenian genocide]]. Meanwhile, the pope gave Karekin the relics of St. [[Gregory the Illuminator]], the first head of the Armenian Church that had been kept in [[Naples]], Italy, for 500 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atour.com/~aahgn/news/20001111b.html |title=Pope John Paul II Recognises Armenian Genocide |publisher=Atour.com |date=10 November 2000 |access-date=6 December 2014}}</ref> In September 2001, John Paul II went on a three-day pilgrimage to [[Armenia]] to take part in an ecumenical celebration with Karekin II in the newly consecrated [[Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan]]. The two Church leaders signed a declaration remembering the victims of the Armenian genocide.<ref>George Weigel, ''The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II – The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy'', p. 283, Doubleday Religion (2010), {{ISBN|978-0-385-52480-3}}</ref>