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Published by The National
Herald, March 6, 2005
Ecumenical Patriarch prays for Pope's health |
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BUCHAREST, Romania Mar 6
(Associated Press)- Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's
Orthodox Christians, on Sunday prayed for Pope
John Paul II in a Romanian church and wished him
courage.
"I pray wholeheartedly for his health. He has been
very courageous in his life ... Courage is
characteristic of him. I think and I pray that he
will overcome this difficult time of (his) life
and will continue for many years to come his life
in service of Christ and ... peace in the world,"
he told AP Television News in an exclusive
interview.
Bartholomew was speaking after a regular Sunday
service at the Saint Spiridon church in Bucharest
which he held together with Teoctist, the
patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Both Bartholomew and Teoctist prayed for the pope
during the service.
Bartholomew is on a three-day visit to Romania to
celebrate 120 years since the Romanian Orthodox
Church declared independence from Constantinople,
the former Byzantine capital and the seat of the
Orthodox ecumenical patriarch which is now called
Istanbul.
Bartholomew is considered the first among equals
among Orthodox patriarchs and also directly
controls several Orthodox churches around the
world.
He was also in Romania where almost 90 percent of
the population are Orthodox Christians to
celebrate Teoctist's 90th birthday last month.
Teocist has been patriarch since 1986. Bartholomew
has visited the country several times at the
invitation of the church.
The pope visited Romania in 1999, the first time
he had visited a Christian Orthodox country.
Despite a standoff with the Russian Orthodox
Church, the pope has made many groundbreaking
visits to mostly Orthodox countries, including
Greece and Ukraine, and has held joint prayers
with Bartholomew.
Bartholomew said he had met the pope four times.
"We are very good friends. We understand each
other," he told APTN.
The pope was taken by ambulance to hospital with
breathing spasms Feb. 1 and was released Feb. 10,
only to be rushed back on Feb. 24 for the throat
surgery.
On Sunday, he appeared for a second time at the
window of the Rome hospital where he is being
treated, and waved and made the sign of the cross
to some 500 pilgrims who had gathered to see him.
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