Pope: Catholics and Orthodox continue the path towards full unity
Vatican City
(AsiaNews) - 50 years on from Vatican II, Benedict XVI today recalled that the
Council gave the right start to "an important stage" in
relations between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the
"rediscovery of
the deep fraternity" that binds them and with the "progress" of the Mixed
Commission for theological dialogue.
The
feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, patrons of the Church of Rome, as well as
that of Andrew, patron saint of the Church of Constantinople, has become the traditional occasion for an exchange of visits of delegations of the two
"sister churches" to reaffirm the
common desire to pursue the road to " bring closer the blessed day when we
can share the Eucharistic table."
The
50 years since Vatican II were the focus of the greeting Benedict XVI gave to
the Orthodox delegation, composed of Adamidis Emmanuel, Metropolitan of France,
Director of the Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union; Ilias
Katre, Bishop
of Philomelion (USA) and deacon Paisios Kokkinakis, Codicographer of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
"This
year - the Pope said - marks the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the
Second Vatican Council, which will be solemnly celebrated on October 11th. It
is in conjunction with the Council, at which, as you well know, there were some
representatives
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as fraternal delegates, that an important new
phase of relations between our two Churches began. "
"Recalling
the anniversary of Vatican II, it seems right to remember the figure and the
work of the unforgettable Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, of whose death we
will in a few days mark the fortieth anniversary of his death. Patriarch
Athenagoras, with Blessed Pope John XXIII and the Servant of God Pope Paul VI,
animated by passion for the unity of the Church which comes from faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, became proponents of bold initiatives which paved the way
for a renewed relationship between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Catholic
Church". A
journey, the Pope concluded, which the current Ecumenical Patriarch,
Bartholomew I, is continuing with "renewed faithfulness and abundant
creativity".
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