Pope Paul VI On 6 August 1978 at 21:41 Paul VI died in Castel Gandolfo. According to the terms of his will, he was buried in the "true earth" and therefore, he does not have an ornate sarcophagus but in practice beneath the floor of Saint Peter's Basilica, though in an area of the basilica's crypt near the tombs of other popes. His position mirrors the statements attributed to Pius XI: "a Pope may suffer but he must be able to function" and by Pius XII. Pope Paul, reflecting on Hamlet, wrote the following in a private note in 1978: His confessor, the
Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church Pope John Paul II's relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church were marked by a significant improvement in relations between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. In May 1999, Pope John Paul II visited Romania on the invitation from Patriarch Teoctist of the Romanian Orthodox Church. This was the first time a Pope had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the East-West Schism in 1054, the event that separated Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism. On his arrival, the Patriarch and the President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, greeted the Pope. The Patriarch