TO ORTHODOX SYNOD: "WE HAVE GONE BEYOND THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 1999 (VIS) - In mid-afternoon today in the patriarchal palace of Bucharest, the Holy Father met with and addressed His Beatitude Patriarch Teoctist and the 35 bishops who are members of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church.

The Pope, saying he was in Romania as "a pilgrim of charity," praised the "program of ecclesial renewal which the Holy Synod has undertaken." And he assured the patriarch that "Catholics are at the side of their Orthodox brothers, in prayer and in their availability for useful collaboration. ... Common witness is a powerful means of evangelization. Whereas division marks the victory of darkness over light."

"Beatitude," John Paul II said, addressing the patriarch in French, "both of us, in our personal history, have seen chains and experienced oppression by an ideology which hoped to eradicate faith in Christ the Lord from the soul of our peoples. But the gates of hell did not prevail against the Church. ... After so many years of violence and repressed liberty, the Church can put the balm of grace on the wounds of mankind and heal it in the name of Christ."

Citing the Apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians on love, the Pope observed that "these are the words addressed by the Apostle Paul to a community which was tormented by conflicts and tensions; they are valuable words for all times. We know well that these words today are addressed above all to us. They are not a reproach to the other in his error, bur rather they serve to unmask our own. ... We have known opposition, recriminations, inner reticence and shutting each other out. ... And yet, in this land of Romania, the martyrs and confessors knew how to glorify the name of God with a single heart and single soul."

"I am happy that, concretely, it has been possible to initiate a dialogue here, in Romania, a fraternal dialogue on the problems which still divide us. The Greek-Catholic Church in Romania has undergone in recent decades a violent repression, her rights have been trampled upon and violated. Her children have suffered a great deal, some of them to the point of witnessing with their blood. The end of persecution gave freedom, but the problem of ecclesial structures awaits a definitive solution. May dialogue be the path to heal the still-open wounds and to resolve the difficulties which still persist!"

The Pope continued: "The Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church have walked a long path of reconciliation: ... I wish to thank you, venerable brothers in Christ, for the great efforts which you have made on this path. Has not the moment now come to resolutely undertake theological inquiry, sustained by the prayers and understanding of all the faithful, Orthodox and Catholic?

"God knows that our world, and also our Europe, which we hope will be freed from fratricidal wars, needs a witness of fraternal love, which prevails over hatred and quarrels and which opens hearts to reconciliation! Where are our Churches when dialogue is silent and weapons make their language of death heard? How can we educate our faithful to the logic of the beatitudes, so different from the way that the powerful of this world reason?
"Beatitude, dear brothers in the episcopate, let us restore visible unity to the Church," said Pope John Paul, nearing the conclusion of his speech. "Who will be able to inspire the men and women of today to believe in (the Son of God) if we continue to tear the seamless tunic of the Church, if we do not succeed in obtaining from God the miracle of unity, in working to remove the obstacles which bar its full manifestation? Who will pardon us this lack of witness? I have sought unity with all of my strength, and I will continue to expend myself right to the very end for this to be among the priority concerns of Churches and of those who govern them through apostolic ministry."

At the end of his talk, John Paul II added, speaking extemporaneously: "Thank you. This was an unforgettable visit, Romania. Here we have gone beyond the threshold of hope. Thank you. May God bless us all."

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