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For a long time, Russia’s supreme prince of the church was considered a bridge builder and spokesman for the balance between the denominations. Since taking office in 2009, Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill I, who was born Vladimir Gudjajew in what was then Leningrad in 1946, has tried to establish good contacts with the Catholic Church, which is hated by many of his 150 million believers. In 2016 he met Pope Francis in Cuba – the first Orthodox patriarch to shake hands with a pontiff.