Jesus and Buddha

Will Cuba Meeting Of Pope And Patriarch Help Heal A 1,000-Year Rift?

NPR interview: Pope Francis in Cuba

Updated February 12, 20168:38 AM ETPublished February 12, 20164:50 AM ET
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While Friday's meeting in Havana is the first between a pope and a Russian patriarch, Francis invited the patriarch of Constantinople to his installation as pope in 2013. The patriarch accepted the invitation. Though small, the Patriarchate of Constantinople is generally seen as the cradle of Orthodoxy and therefore has historical and symbolic importance.

"That [2013 occasion] was hugely historic," Roeber says, "because that had never happened. I would not quite place the meeting in Havana on quite that level of significance." But, he says, it matters because it may "indicate a Russian willingness to try to integrate themselves more into these ongoing discussions between Rome and the rest of Orthodoxy."

Gonzalez, who is Cuban-American, believes the choice of Havana as a meeting site was no accident. "This meeting could not have happened in Western Europe," he says. "It could not have happened in Russia. It could not have happened even elsewhere in Latin America, which is mostly seen as Catholic. Cuba is a relatively neutral place."

Whether the encounter turns out to be truly historic, however, depends on what is actually achieved, Gonzalez says. "Something can only be considered historic after it becomes history," he says.

Listen to the full NPR audio Interveiw

Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age

A modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in recent years as followers see the stories as metaphors for life not worship of the gods

Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age.

Back for Thor: how Iceland is reconnecting with its pagan past

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Worship of the gods in Scandinavia gave way to Christianity around 1,000 years ago but a modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in Iceland.

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'GHOST PASSENGERS'

Horrified cabbies pick up 'GHOST PASSENGERS' in area devastated by 2011 Japan tsunami

In each instance, the story is similar.

A taxi driver in north-east Japan picks up a passenger in an area devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

He starts the meter and asks for the destination, to which the customer gives a strange response.

Either then, or sometime later, the driver turns around to address the man or woman - but the passenger has vanished.

This is because, it is claimed, it was a 'ghost passenger' who was, in fact, killed in the disaster five years ago.

At least seven taxi drivers in Ishinomaki have reported such an experience of a 'phantom fare', according to The Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The coastal town in Miyagi Prefecture was among the regions most seriously affected by the deadly tsunami, which killed nearly 16,000 people in total.

More than 3,000 Ishinomaki residents lost their lives in the tragedy, including 70 students and nine staff members at Ishinomaki Okawa Elementary School.

Ms Kudo said that her research suggests that the drivers believed they were picking up genuine passengers - because they each started their meters.

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