POPE PRAYS FOR FULL UNITY OF THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, JUN 29, 2000 (VIS) - At 6:30 p.m. in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II presided at a Eucharistic celebration during which he imposed the pallium on 24 metropolitan archbishops from Italy, Cameroon, Bahamas, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Benin, India, Great Britain, Philippines, Nigeria, France, U.S.A., Brazil and Croatia.

As is traditional on this day, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was present at the ceremony. The delegation was headed by Metropolitan Athanasios of Helioupolis and Thiera. He was accompanied by Archbishop Vsevolod of Skopelos of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, which is dependent on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and by Archdeacon Tarasios of Fanar.

In his homily, the Pope recalled the Lord's words to His disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" and Simon Peter's reply: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He then went on: "The reply is extraordinarily lucid. It perfectly reflects the faith of the Church. We too are reflected therein. In a special way Peter's words reflect the Bishop of Rome, his successor by divine will and around him and with him you are also reflected, dear metropolitan archbishops, who have come here from so many parts of the world to receive the Pallium on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul."

"These words on Peter's lips arise from the depths of the mystery of God. They reveal the intimate truth, the very life of God. Peter, by the action of the divine Spirit, becomes a witness and confessor of this superhuman truth. His profession of faith thus constitutes the solid basis of the Church's faith."

Addressing the archbishops, the Holy Father affirmed: "The imposition of the pallium eloquently highlights the special bond of communion that links you to the See of Peter and demonstrates the catholic nature of the Church. Whenever you don the pallium remember that as pastors we are called to protect the purity of the Gospel and the unity of the Church of Christ."

"The full unity of the Church! I feel Christ's mandate echo within me. It is a mandate that has greater urgency than ever at the beginning of this new millennium. For this reason we pray and toil while never ceasing to hope. With these sentiments, I affectionately embrace and greet the delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. ... May God grant that, as soon as possible, we achieve the full unity of all who believe in Christ."

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