His meeting with Pope Paul VI in Jerusalem in 1964 led to rescinding the 1054 excommunications of the [[Great Schism]]. This was a significant step towards restoring full communion between Rome and Constantinople. It produced the [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration_en.html Catholic-Orthodox Joint declaration of 1965], which was read out on 7 December 1965 simultaneously at a public meeting of the Second Vatican Council in Rome and at a special ceremony in Istanbul. The declaration did not end the 1054 schism, but showed a desire for greater reconciliation between the two churches, represented by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I.