"Very satisfied" for his Meetings with the Pope

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The school of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the only "Christian" school in Istanbul and that was closed decades ago, shall reopen soon. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is sure of it. At the end of his three-day visit to the Vatican, Bartholomew I reviewed his meetings with the Pope whilst receiving a small group of journalists in Saint Martha's House in the Vatican, where he resided during his stay. Bartholomew I explained that the Turkish government has agreed to the reopening of the school, hopefully for the beginning of the next school year. "We shall begin with grade 1. When pupils move to grade 2 we shall offer both grade 1 and 2. And so on." The Patriarch, who during the visit met John Paul II three times and signed a common declaration yesterday, said he was "very satisfied" for how the visit went. Speaking about the previous meetings he had with the Pope in 1995 and 2002, he said that "this time they were more fruitful, more humane, and more genuine. The atmosphere was more cordial, perhaps because I am a bit more mature now," he added with a smile. In the Patriarch's opinion, the visit should restart the ecumenical get together of Catholic and Orthodox which had stalled over the last four years. Restarting the work of the Joint Theological Commission is especially important for the latter must tackle the "truths" dividing the two Churches. The Patriarch said that he hoped the dialogue would restart somewhere "between the end of this year and the beginning of the next." He also revealed that he had invited John Paul II to visit the See of the Patriarchate, in Fanar, which the Pope had already visited in 1979. Bartholomew I also said he was sure that the Pope could be in Istanbul next November on the occasion of the feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle said to be the "Father" of Orthodox Christianity.

• turkey
• vatican
• patriarch
• bartholomew
• pope
• christian
• school
• religious
• freedom
• human
• rights