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Vatican News
Pope: Prayerful hopes for greater experience of unity
On the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis receives the traditional delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
By Christopher Wells
Pope Francis on Thursday received members of a delegation representing the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, the primus inter pares (first among equals) of the heads of the autocephalous churches the make up the Eastern Orthodox Church.
At the audience, Pope Francis welcomed the delegation as a “a sign of
the growth of communion between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical
Patriarch,” while also recalling “the common roots of our sister
Churches.”
The Holy Father spoke in his address about a “gradual dimming of the
light of faith” in many traditionally Christian societies, marked by
“contempt for the dignity of the human person, the idolatry of money,
the spread of violence, a totalizing view of science and technology,
[and] the reckless exploitation of natural resources.” Quoting
Bartholomew, Pope Francis said we must reject the “cynical phrase ‘there
is no alternative.’” Rather, “our Churches can create new possibilities
of transformation for our world.”
He continued, “It is comforting for me to realize that this
convergence of views with my beloved brother Bartholomew is being
translated into a concrete common effort.” Among those common efforts,
he noted initiatives aimed at combating modern forms of slavery,
protecting creation, and promoting peace. The Pope also looked forward
to a meeting with the Heads of Churches and Christian Communities of the
Middle East, which the Ecumenical Patriarch will also be attending.
“It is my prayerful hope,” Pope Francis said, “that there will be
increased opportunities for us Catholics and Orthodox at all levels to
work together, pray together and proclaim together the one Gospel of
Jesus Christ received from the apostolic preaching, in order to
experience ever fully in our shared journey the unity that by God’s
grace already joins us.”
The now customary audience is taking place in the context of the
mutual exchange of delegations for the feasts of the heavenly patrons of
respective Churches: the visit of the Orthodox delegation to Rome for
the feast of Sts Peter and Paul being reciprocated with a Catholic
delegation to Constantinople (modern Istanbul) for the feast of St
Andrew at the end of November. The delegation of the Ecumenical
Patriarch is being led by Archbishop Job of Telmissos, the co-president
of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between
the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, who is accompanied by
Theodoretos, Bishop of Nazianzos, and Deacon Alexander Koutsis.
