Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill walks with penguins
- Published
Patriarch Kirill wore a red lifejacket for his meeting with the penguins
Not satisfied with one groundbreaking encounter this week, the head of Russia's Orthodox Church has followed his talks with Pope Francis by meeting a rookery of penguins in Antarctica.
Flying from the warm climes of Cuba, where he met the Pope, Patriarch Kirill held prayers at a research station before taking a walk with the animals.
He tended to the chicks, some of which chased him with flippers outstretched.
A picture of the 69-year-old kneeling eye-to-eye with one went viral.
Patriarch Kirill meets penguins at Russia's Bellingshausen scientific station on the Island of Waterloo, in the Antarctic on the final leg of his tour of Latin American nations
Russia has 10 research stations in the Antarctic, able to accommodate up to 120 people. Patriarch Kirill visited one, the Bellingshausen research station on the island of Waterloo.
The Russian Orthodox church near the Bellingshausen station, which opened in 2004, is the only church on the continent to hold services all year round, with priests spending the winter there.
Church officials said the Patriarch prayed for polar researchers, including 64 Russians who have died on polar expeditions.
His visit was the first ever by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to Antarctica. It followed the first encounter between a head of Russian Orthodox Church and a pope in nearly 1,000 years.
Since becoming Pope in 2013, Pope Francis has called for better relations between the different branches of Christianity.
- Published12 February 2016
- Published12 February 2016
