The Moscow Patriarchate said on Monday that Pope Francis had played a significant role in the active development of contacts between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, Russian news agency TASS reported on Monday.

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday.

The Western and Eastern branches of Christianity split in 1054 amid disputes over doctrine and papal authority which have never been resolved.