MAY THE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN CHRISTIANS PROMOTE UNITY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 1999 (VIS) - Following the welcome ceremony at Baneasa Airport, the Pope travelled by car to Bucharest's Orthodox patriarchal cathedral for a brief visit and a moment of prayer. Thereafter he went to the residence of Patriarch Teoctist where, before entering, the Holy Father and His Beatitude greeted those present.

The Pope said: "Thanks to the Christian faith, this country ... has become, over the centuries, a bridge between the Latin and Orthodox worlds, between Hellenic civilization and the Slavic peoples."

The faith of the Romanian people is clearly represented in the designs of numerous church facades, the Pope continued: "The Romanians too, during tragic historical circumstances both in the past and more recently, have valiantly preserved the gift of Christian faith, resisting both violent persecutions and insidious propositions for a life without God."

John Paul II made clear his desire that "a greater understanding between those who honor themselves with the name of Christian - Orthodox, Catholics of different rites and Protestants of the various denominations - be the stimulus to unity and harmony, both in your own country and within the continent of Europe."

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