MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS
TO HIS HOLINESS BARTHOLOMEW I ON THE OCCASION OF THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW,
PATRON SAINT OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
TO HIS HOLINESS BARTHOLOMEW I ON THE OCCASION OF THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW,
PATRON SAINT OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
To His Holiness Bartholomew
Archbishop of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch
It is with particular joy, on the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle,
Patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, that I convey my sentiments of
deep affection, together with the assurance of my prayers for Your
Holiness, beloved brother in Christ, and for the Church entrusted by our
Lord to your pastoral care. I also extend cordial greetings to the
members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to the clergy,
monks and nuns, and all the faithful gathered in the Patriarchal Church
of Saint George for the solemn celebration in honour of Saint Andrew,
the first-called and brother of Saint Peter.
The exchange of delegations between the Church of Rome and the Church
of Constantinople, on the occasion of their respective feast days, has
become a joyful custom over the years and expresses the profound bond
that unites our two Sees. While centuries of mutual misunderstanding,
differences and silence may seem to have compromised this relationship,
the Holy Spirit, Spirit of unity, has enabled us to recommence a
fraternal dialogue. This was definitively resumed by our venerable
predecessors, Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Saint Paul VI, and has enabled us to rediscover those bonds of communion that have always existed between us.
Our Churches have safeguarded the Apostolic tradition with great
care, along with the teaching of the first Ecumenical Councils and the
Church Fathers, despite the differences that developed in local
traditions and in theological formulations, which need to be more deeply
understood and clarified. At the same time both Churches, with a sense
of responsibility towards the world, have sensed that urgent call, which
involves each of us who have been baptized, to proclaim the Gospel to
all men and women. For this reason, we can work together today in the
search for peace among peoples, for the abolition of all forms of
slavery, for the respect and dignity of every human being and for the
care of creation. With God’s help, through encounter and dialogue on our
journey together over the last fifty years, we already experience being
in communion, even though it is not yet full and complete.
The search for the re-establishment of full communion is above all a
response to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who on the eve of his
Passion prayed that his disciples “may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
United we give a more effective response to the needs of so many men and
women of our own time, especially those who suffer from poverty,
hunger, illness and war. Here I would express my profound gratitude to
Your Holiness for your presence at the day of prayer and reflection for
peace in the Middle East, held last 7 July in Bari, attended by the
Heads of Churches, or their representatives, from that deeply troubled
area. It is a source of great comfort to share with Your Holiness the
same concerns for the tragic situation of our brothers and sisters in
the region.
In a world wounded by conflict, the unity of Christians is a sign of
hope that must radiate ever more visibly. With this in mind, I also
assure Your Holiness of my prayer that God, fount of reconciliation and
peace, may grant us Christians to “be of one mind, sympathetic, loving
toward one another” (1Pt 3:8). We have been called by God for this, so that we “might inherit a blessing” (1Pt 3:9).
Trusting in the intercession of our patrons, Saint Peter and Saint
Andrew, I assure you and all the faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of my renewed prayerful best wishes, on behalf of the whole Catholic
Church. With sentiments of profound esteem and fraternal affection,
trusting also in your own prayers, I exchange with Your Holiness an
embrace of peace in Christ our Lord.
Francis