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Pope Benedict Welcomes Orthodox Cooperation in Middle East Synod
29-06-2010
(28 June 10 - RV) First Vespers of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, at 18.00 this evening
At the end of the liturgy, the Pope will inaugurate the first elements of a building complex designed and initiated by Cardinal Andrea di Montezemolo, Emeritus archpriest of the Basilica, on the occasion of the Pauline Year.
A delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has arrived in Rome to take part in celebrations marking the solemnity. Their visit reciprocates one made by a delegation of the Holy See to Istanbul, for the feast of St. Andrew, earlier this year. The delegation is led by His Eminence Gennadios (Limouris), Metropolitan of Sassia, His Excellency Bartholomais (Ioannis Kessidis), Bishop of Arianzós, Assistant Metropolitan of Germany and the reverend deacon Thedoros Meimaris.
On Monday morning the Holy Father greeted them in private audience. Speaking to them in English, he praised progress in Catholic Orthodox dialogue and asked for their close cooperation in the October Synod of Bishops for the Churches in the Middle East:
The Pope welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch's decision to send a delegation to "participate in the work of the Synodal Assembly
He said : "I am certain that the theme of ecumenical cooperation between the Christians of that region will receive great attention". "The difficulties that the Christians of the Middle East are experiencing are in large measure common to all: living as a minority, and yearning for authentic religious freedom and for peace".
Pope Benedict also stated that "dialogue is needed with the Islamic and Jewish communities".
The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches celebrate the feast of the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul on the same day. It is one of the most ancient of the liturgical year, and in the words of the Pope, "it testifies to a time when our communities were living in full communion with one another"
Below the full text of the Holy Father's discourse:
Dear Brothers in Christ,
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father" (Col 1:2). With great joy and heartfelt affection I welcome you in the Lord to this City of Rome, on the occasion of the annual celebration of the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. Their feast, which the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches celebrate on the same day, is one of the most ancient of the liturgical year, and it testifies to a time when our communities were living in full communion with one another. Your presence here today - for which I am deeply grateful to the Patriarch of Constantinople, His Holiness Bartholomaios I, and to the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate - brings great gladness to the hearts of us all.
I thank the Lord that the relations between us are characterized by sentiments of mutual trust, esteem and fraternity, as is amply testified by the many meetings that have already taken place in the course of this year.
All this gives grounds for hope that Catholic-Orthodox dialogue will also continue to make significant progress. Your Eminence is aware that the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, of which you are Joint Secretary, is at a crucial point, having begun last October in Paphos to discuss the "The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium". With all our hearts we pray that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the Members of the Commission will continue along this path during the forthcoming plenary session in Vienna, and devote to it the time needed for thorough study of this delicate and important issue. For me it is an encouraging sign that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Holy Synod of Constantinople share our firm conviction of the importance of this dialogue, as His Holiness stated so clearly in the Patriarchal and Synodal Encyclical Letter on the occasion of Orthodoxy Sunday on 21 February 2010.
In the forthcoming Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, which I have convoked for the month of October here in Rome, I am certain that the theme of ecumenical cooperation between the Christians of that region will receive great attention. Indeed, it is highlighted in the Instrumentum Laboris, which I consigned to the Catholic Bishops of the Middle East during my recent visit to Cyprus, where I was received with great fraternal warmth by His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nea Justiniana and All Cyprus. The difficulties that the Christians of the Middle East are experiencing are in large measure common to all: living as a minority, and yearning for authentic religious freedom and for peace. Dialogue is needed with the Islamic and Jewish communities. In this context I shall be very pleased to welcome the Fraternal Delegation which the Ecumenical Patriarch will send in order to participate in the work of the Synodal Assembly.
Your Eminence, dear members of the Delegation, I thank you for your visit. I ask you to convey my fraternal greetings to His Holiness Bartholomaios I, to the Holy Synod, to the clergy and all the faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Through the intercession of the Apostles Peter and Paul, may the Lord grant us abundant blessings, and may he keep us always in his love".
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=403949
