Thursday, 07 Nov 2013 10:36 AM VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will receive Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 25, an encounter that could help mend strained relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church . Russian-Vatican relations have been fraught since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, with Moscow accusing the Roman Catholic Church of trying to poach believers from the Russian Orthodox Church, a charge the Vatican denies. But Putin is the first Kremlin leader since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution to publicly profess religious faith — to the Orthodox church — and has several times advocated ending the long feud between the two major Christian churches. Putin and the Pope will hold their first meeting on Nov. 25, a Vatican spokesman said on Thursday. Putin, who also met his two immediate predecessors, could invite the Pope to visit Russia, diplomats said. Popes Benedict and John Paul had standing invitations from the Russian governm...