Pope, Patriarch Pray in Holy Sepulcher Church

Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians have prayed together inside the Jerusalem church that symbolizes their divisions, calling their historic meeting a step toward healing the centuries-old Catholic-Orthodox schism.

Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embraced one another in the stone courtyard outside the 12th century Church of the Holy Sepulcher and recited the "Our Father" prayer together once inside. It was an unprecedented moment of solemnity at the spot where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

The Sunday evening encounter was full of symbolic meaning. After Bartholomew delivered his remarks, Francis bent down and kissed his hand in a remarkable show of papal respect for an Orthodox patriarch.