Comment on Pope opens Mexico visit after historic stop with patriarch

MEXICO CITY — Pope Francis kicks off his first trip to Mexico on Saturday with speeches to the country's political and ecclesial elites, riding in on the success of his historic meeting in Cuba with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.During a three-hour stop in Havana on Friday, Francis embraced Patriarch Kirill and with an exclamation of "finally" took a momentous step toward closing a nearly 1,000-year schism in split Christianity.The two religious leaders signed a 30-point joint declaration of religious unity that committed their churches to overcoming their differences.