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In 1965, the Catholic Pope Paul VI and Patriarch [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Athenagoras I]] of Constantinople lifted the mutual excommunications dating from the eleventh century.<ref>Joint Declaration [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration_en.html]</ref>. In 1995 (Jun 29), Pope John Paul II and Patriarch [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]] of Constantinople again withdrew the previous 11th century excommunications.
In May 1999, John Paul II was the first pope since the Great Schism to visit an Eastern Orthodox country: Romania. Upon greeting John Paul II, the Romanian Patriarch [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]] stated: "The second millennium of Christian history began with a painful wounding of the unity of the Church; the end of this millennium has seen a real commitment to restoring Christian unity."
Pope John Paul II visited other heavily Orthodox areas such as Ukraine, despite lack of welcome at times, and he said that healing the divisions between Western and Eastern Christianity was one of his fondest wishes.
