Pope vows to build bridges with Orthodox church

Pope Benedict XVI pledged today to work to end the 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox church, sending a message of healing from a city with close ties to the Orthodox.

Benedict flew by helicopter to the Adriatic port of Bari, considered a “bridge” between East and West that is 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.