‘n 26 years of globe-trotting, Pope John Paul II has covered a distance roughly equivalent to three trips to the moon. Yet a longed-for visit to Russia has never come off - and there are doubts that it ever will.

In what could be the twilight of his papacy, a trip to close a centuries-old rift between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians appears highly improbable even if John Paul fully recovers from his latest health crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to the pope this weekend “wishing a quick recovery,” the Kremlin said. When the 84-year-old pope suffered his first breathing crisis in February, Patriarch Alexy II, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, sent a warmly worded pledge of “brotherly prayers.”‘

Read more at Hopes Dim Pope’s Desired Trip to Russia

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