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Published by
Zenit.org,
June 29, 2004
Pope Urges "Leap Forward" in
Catholic-Orthodox Ties
Receives Orthodox Patriarch at Vatican
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 29, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John
Paul II expressed his desire for "a leap forward
in the dialogue and consolidation of mutual
fraternal relations" between Orthodox and
Catholics, when he met Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomew I.
The Orthodox ecumenical patriarch was in the
Vatican today as part of the exchange of visits
that the Holy See and the Patriarchate of
Constantinople carry out each year, on the feasts
of their respective patrons.
On today's solemnity of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, John Paul II mentioned the 40th anniversary
of the meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI
and Patriarch Athenagoras I.
"Driven by confidence and love of God, our
enlightened predecessors were able to overcome
centuries-old prejudices and misunderstandings,
and offered a wonderful example of pastors and
leaders of the People of God" in providential
meeting "for the life of the Church," John Paul II
said when he received the Orthodox patriarch.
Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I, in
"rediscovering themselves brothers, ...
experienced a feeling of profound joy, which drove
them to take up again with confidence the
relations between the Church of Rome and the
Church of Constantinople," John Paul II added.
John Paul II mentioned shortly afterward, when
praying the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter's
Square, that the embrace that Paul VI and
Athenagoras shared "became a symbol of the desired
reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the
Orthodox Churches, as well as a prophecy of hope
on the path toward full unity among all
Christians."
Over the past four decades, John Paul II said, the
Catholic and Orthodox Churches "have experienced
important occasions of contact which have fostered
the spirit of reciprocal reconciliation."
Those occasions, he said, include "the exchange of
visits between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch
Athenagoras I in 1967," John Paul II's own 1979
visit to Fanar (the area in Constantinople --
modern-day Istanbul, Turkey -- that is the
location of the ecumenical patriarchate),
Demetrios I's visit to Rome in 1987, and that of
Bartholomew I in 1995.
All of these, John Paul II said, are "signs of the
common commitment to continue to journey on the
path undertaken, so that the will of Christ will
be realized as soon as possible: 'ut unum sint!'"
The phrase -- "that they may all be one" -- is
from Chapter 17 of the Gospel according to John.
The Pope also mentioned the weight in this journey
toward unity of "the memories of painful events"
of the past, especially in April 1204 when an
"army that departed to recover the Holy Land for
Christianity, went to Constantinople to capture
and sack it, shedding the blood of brothers in the
faith."
Sharing "the indignation and pain" caused by that
incident, John Paul II suggested that such events
be analyzed while both sides pray "together so
that the Lord of history will purify our memories
of every prejudice and resentment, and grant us to
proceed freely on the path of unity."
"To this we are invited also by the example left
by Patriarch Athenagoras I and Pope Paul VI," John
Paul II said. "May the memory of that meeting
foster a leap forward in the dialogue and
consolidation of mutual fraternal relations."
Convinced of the urgency, the Pontiff expressed
the desire that the theological dialogue of the
Catholic and Orthodox mixed commission "be
reactivated as soon as possible."
For his part, Patriarch Bartholomew I affirmed the
need to reinforce dialogue between the two
Churches, which fluctuates because of the
accumulated difficulties given the long history of
division, Vatican Radio reported.
At the conclusion of their meeting, Patriarch
Bartholomew I gave John Paul II some gifts,
including a silver cross. In turn, the Pope gave
the patriarch a commemorative medal of the meeting
in Jerusalem representing the embrace between Paul
VI and Athenagoras I.
The patriarch then went to St. Peter's Basilica
and visited the Vatican Grottos. He paused there
to pray at the tomb of Paul VI.
Later, the patriarch attended the Mass presided
over by John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. Both
delivered the homily and pronounced the common
profession of faith.
During the Mass the Pope bestowed the pallium, a
woolen band, on the metropolitan archbishops
appointed during the past year as a sign of
communion between Rome and the Churches spread
throughout the world.
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