For the first time ever, high-ranking members of the LDS Church have participated in a prayer service with the Pope.

Friday night, Elders M. Russell Ballard and Quentin L. Cook of the Mormon Church’s Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles attended a service where Pope Benedict XVI met with leaders of Protestant and Orthodox Christian faiths at St. Joseph’s Parish in New York.

Catholic leaders described the visit as coming out of a growing respect between Catholics and Mormons.