Pope vows to heal rift between churches

POPE Benedict XVI visited this eastern Italian port on his first papal trip yesterday and pledged to make healing the 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox church a “fundamental” commitment of his papacy.

Benedict made the pledge in a city closely tied to the Orthodox church. Bari, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, is considered a “bridge” between East and West.

It is also home to the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century saint who is one of the most popular in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.