VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will make a surprise trip to Cuba on Feb. 12 for a historic meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, marking the first meeting between a pope and the Russian patriarch since the eastern and western branches of Christianity split nearly 1,000 years ago, the Vatican announced Friday.
For Francis, the meeting is the result of delicate and sustained diplomacy, some of which began decades ago under Pope John Paul II, and is another important milestone in his efforts to reconcile the Roman Catholic Church with Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The breakthrough also underscores Francis's ties to Cuba, as President Raúl Castro "was involved in organizing the meeting," said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, at a news conference.
"The encounter has been under preparation for a long time — it wasn't improvised," Lombardi said.
He said discussions had been underway "for at least two years," and the fact that both leaders planned to be in Latin America created the possibility of a "neutral place" for a meeting.
Francis was already planning to travel to Mexico next Friday for a six-day visit. Now, his plane will divert to Havana's José Martí International Airport, where the pope and Patriarch Kirill are expected to hold a private, two-hour meeting.
The two men will then release a joint declaration before Francis continues to Mexico City. Kirill was already scheduled to be in Cuba for an official visit.
The pace of rapprochement between Russia and Vatican, the largest and the smallest states in the world, has been swift. The two agreed to establish formal diplomatic relations only at the end of 2009, and President Vladimir Putin met Francis in June 2015 in what was seen as a break of Russia's isolation from the West over the crisis in Ukraine.
From the outset of his papacy in 2013, Francis has worked to reconcile divisions in Christianity that trace to the Great Schism of 1054, which formally divided the eastern and western churches. Francis already has ties to other orthodox leaders, especially with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, considered the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
But the Russian Orthodox Church has long resisted overtures from the Vatican. John Paul II tried but failed to arrange a meeting, while his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, also did not meet the patriarch.
Much of the friction has seemingly been the product of a territorial dispute, as Russian Orthodox leaders have accused the Roman Catholic Church of proselytizing in Russia and Ukraine, effectively encroaching on Orthodox turf.
Even in announcing the meeting, the Russian Patriarchate said in a statement on its website that differences over church policy in Ukraine remained a "bleeding wound."
A joint statement expressed delight over the meeting, calling it "an important stage in relations between the two Churches." The Moscow Patriarchate and the Holy See, the statement said, hope the event will be seen as "a sign of hope for all people."
In a statement published on its website, the Russian church also cited the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa as another incentive to heal past divisions.
"It is necessary to put aside internal disagreements and unite efforts for saving Christianity in the regions where it is subjected to the most severe persecution," the statement read.
Alberto Melloni, a Vatican historian, also noted that the Cuba meeting has meaningful geopolitical implications, because it comes at a moment when the United States and Europe are working to diplomatically isolate Russia.
The Russian church is closely aligned with the Russian government, Melloni said, and the papal meeting with the pope would have required permission from Putin. Signing off on the meeting allows the Russian leader to show the different avenues he can use to avoid isolation, Melloni said.
"For Putin, it is a good result," he said. "It is very geopolitical."
Francis is proving to be an ambitious, diplomatic player. He helped broker the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, and won the regard of Castro, the Cuban president. Castro, in turn, helped broker the event.
Francis also is moving aggressively to culminate another long-held Vatican goal — to restore diplomatic ties with China. Francis has spoken of his desire to become the first pope to visit mainland China.
This week, Francis used an interview with Asia Times, an English-language online publication in Hong Kong, to convey his greetings for the Chinese New Year and offer reassurances that a rising China should not be regarded as a threat.
"For me, China has always been a reference point of greatness," Francis said in the interview. "A great country. But more than a country, a great culture, with an inexhaustible wisdom."
Elisabetta Povoledo reported from Vatican City, and Jim Yardley from Rome. Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting from Moscow.