In efforts to promote Christian unity, the relics of two early Christian Saints have been returned to the seat of the Orthodox Church, 800 years after Crusaders took the relics from Constantinople. The spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I escorted the remains of Saint John Chrysostom, and Saint Gregory Nazianzen into the Cathedral of Saint George, Istanbul in Turkey.

The relics were brought back from Rome, where they were handed over by Pope, John Paul II during a special service in the Vatican.

The two relics are both of former Archbishops that led the church in the fourth century before the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity emerged in 1054.

Many commentators believe that the relics were originally taken from Constantinople by Crusaders after ransacking the city in 1204.

However, the Vatican states that the relic of St Gregory was brought to Rome by Byzantine monks in the eighth century to protect them. Since then the remains have been kept in St Peter’s Basilica.

The return of the relics are thought to be part of the Pope’s efforts to reconcile Rome with the Orthodox churches, which split in 1054 after disputes arose regarding the increasing power being given to the papacy.