Pope and Orthodox patriarch at service in Istanbul

Pope Benedict XVI and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians prayed together in an Istanbul church today, a service intended to underline their commitment to try to heal the 1,000-year-old rift between the two churches.

Benedict went to St George Church at the start of his third day in Turkey and embraced Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I – called the “first among equals” of the Orthodox leaders.