focolare
Τhe 5th Halki Summit jointly organized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Sophia University Institute began on 8th June, 2022, in Turkey.
We had a dream…
Yes,
it was January 2019 and a delegation from the Sophia University
Institute (IUS) visited the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the
Phanar, the historic Greek quarter of present-day Istanbul (Turkey). We
were also welcomed very warmly by Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa,
then Abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity on the island of Halki
and Professor of the Theological School of the University of
Thessaloniki (he became Archbishop of America the following May). We
experienced a deep communion with him which gave rise to the desire to
organize together a Summer School in Halki with Catholic and
Orthodox students and teachers, on the theme of ecology, so dear to both
the sister Churches of Rome and Constantinople. The pandemic delayed it
but today that dream has come true.
It is 6.30 pm on Wednesday, 8th
June, 2022 and we are once again in the “queen of cities”, as the
beautiful city of Constantinople was called, with good reason. Patriarch
Bartholomew gave a passionate and informative greeting to participants,
students and teachers from all continents and with very varied
interdisciplinary and ecumenical experiences. The audience included
Msgr. Marek Solczynski, the new Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey, Msgr.
Vincenzo Zani, Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education,
Archbishop Elpidophoros and Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare
Movement and Vice-Chancellor of the IUS. “Everything is in a
relationship of love” said Margaret Karram, recalling the destiny of
unity embedded in the universe, that today more than ever, man and woman
are called to promote with bold, prophetic action and thought.
The title of the fifth Halki Summit organized jointly by the
Patriarchate of Constantinople and the IUS, which began on Wednesday, 8th
June, is a clear indication of this: “Sustaining the future of the
planet together”. It is no coincidence that Patriarch Bartholomew
emphasized two words from this title: “future” and “together”. The first
refers to the strong intergenerational bond inherent in respect for the
environment in which we live; the second to the mandatory
interdisciplinary approach to be taken in the face of the vastness and
complexity of ecological problems. He said, “It becomes evident that
only a cooperative and collective response by religious leaders,
scientists, political authorities, educational institutions and
financial organizations will be able to effectively
address these
imperative issues of our time”.
At
the end of his speech, he referred to two concepts very dear to
Orthodox theology and spirituality: “Eucharist” (in the sense of
“thanksgiving” for the gift of creation) and “asceticism” (understood as
“self-control” of consumerist passions). However, the Patriarch invited
us to consider these concepts not simply in a liturgical or monastic
sense, but as different ways of speaking about communion. “And
this is where the vision of our brother Pope Francis,” he admitted with
emotion, “coincides with the vision of the world that we have proposed
and promulgated for over thirty years. We are both convinced that what
we do to our world, ‘we do to the least of our brothers and sisters’ (Mt.25:40), just as what we do to others we do to God himself (cf. Mt.25:45). It is no coincidence that immediately after publishing the encyclical on the environment Laudato Sì, the next encyclical of Pope Francis was Fratelli Tutti”.
There
are many joint statements by the Pope and the Patriarch, together with
the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the urgency of environmental
sustainability, on social impact and on the importance of global
cooperation. This is also what Pope Francis writes in Laudato Sì:
“When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor
person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities … it becomes
difficult to hear the cry of nature itself, everything is connected.
(no. 117) The Patriarch clarifies the same concept, putting it in
context: “Connections between us and the entire creation of
God, between our faith and our action, between our theology and our
spirituality, between what we say and what we do; between science and
religion, between our convictions and every discipline; between our
sacramental communion and our social conscience; between our generation
and future generations, between our two churches, but also with other
churches and other communities of faith”.
Yes, everything is connected by a bond that only mutual love between
people can make visible to every man and woman on this wonderful planet
earth.
Vincenzo Di Pilato
(Foto: Alfonso Zamuner)
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου
Σημείωση: Μόνο ένα μέλος αυτού του ιστολογίου μπορεί να αναρτήσει σχόλιο.