...between Papa Francis and dear Papa Benedict...I found that this report gave some extra details that are poignant...
It is very significant that Papa F. specifically spoke of BXVI's humility...
The voices in the media currently heaping praise on Papa F are precisely those that are likely to turn on him in due course, sneering when he supports - for example - marriage as the union of a man and a woman, or the right to life of the frail and sick. At the moment they are giving him the honeymoon treatment, and are emphasising, again and again, his simplicity and enthusiasm for poverty. This is intensely annoying, and in his own gentle way, he's taken a stance by emphasising in this gift to BXVI, the latter's own genuine humility.
BTW, the icon was itself a gift from the Russian Orthodox, who are thrilled and touched that it has been given to BXVI. Russia - where there is currently of course a notable revival of Christianity with churches drawing significant numbers, especially of the young - will be of importance in the next years. Benedict XVI was popular with the Orthodox, and then they sent, for the first time since the Great Schism, an official representative to Pope Francis' inaugural Mass. Benedict XVI, in a little-noticed but significant gesture, quietly announced that he would no longer use the title "patriarch of the West". The scene is set for the possibility of talks-about-talks for the healing of the schism that has lasted for more than a thousand years...and if you fold into this the actions of Bl John Paul, and the consecration that he made in 1984 in response to the message of Fatima...and the subsequent collapse of Communism...
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The dropping of the title 'patriarch of the West' was received decidedly negatively by the Orthodox. This is not the first time that the Orthodox have sent representatives to a papal inauguration, although I believe that it is the first time that a Patriarch has attended. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew does not function like a kind of Orthodox pope, so his attendance does not have quite the significance that a Western Christian might imagine. The fall of Communism might possibly, by Russian Christians, be attributed to the blood shed by the thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia as well, it goes without saying, as the prayers of the Theotokos. The Russian Orthodox Church has outlined some useful ways in which the churches of the East and West can cooperate on all kinds of crucial moral and ethical issues but it seems unlikely that unity of the kind I think you might mean is anywhere near in sight.
I don't know if Benedict XVI could be said to be 'popular' with the Orthodox - but he was certainly viewed positively by them, despite dropping the title 'Patriarch of the West', an act which was definitely NOT viewed positively, but quite the opposite. This is NOT the first time there have been Orthodox representatives at a papal inauguration - however, I think is is probably the first time a Patriach has attended. I say 'a' and not 'the', because the Patriarch of Constantinople is NOT a kind of Orthodox pope and cannot be said to represent the Orthodox Church in the same way - this is a fundamental misunderstanding. The Russian Orthodox Church (who gave the icon in question) has made many statements indicating a willingness to work together with the Roman Catholic Church on ethical and moral issues. This does NOT, however, indicate that ecclesiological changes are or will be on the agenda any time soon. Finally, Russian Christians may ascribe the fall of Communism to many things, the prayers of the Mother of God, certainly, but also to the witness of their own thousands and thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors from that period.
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