DELEGATION OF HOLY SYNOD OF GREEK-ORTHODOX CHURCH VISITS ROME

VATICAN CITY, MAR 8, 2002 (VIS) - According to a communique made public today, a delegation from the Holy Synod of the Greek-Orthodox Church, sent by the archbishop of Athens, His Beatitude Christodoulos, will take part in a series of work meetings in Rome, from March 8 to 13.

The visit, which follows an invitation from Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, "comes in the wake of Pope John Paul II's visit to Greece last year." The six-man delegation is headed by the metropolitan of Athikia, Panteleimon, a member of the synodal committee for inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian relations.

The delegation from the Orthodox Church of Greece is to participate in a number of meetings that, says the communique, will take place within the framework "of current developments in the European Union on a theme that also emerged during last year's apostolic visit to Greece: Christian heritage and European identity. This theme will facilitate the consideration of various problems, such as those concerning justice and peace, religious freedom, the family, inter-religious dialogue, culture, formation, religious indifference and secularization, human mobility, bioethics etc."

"The members of the Holy Synod will meet with representatives of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, with the secretary for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State and with the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They will also visit the basilicas of St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, and will take part in a liturgical celebration in Rome's Greek-Orthodox church of St. Andrew.

His Beatitude Christodoulos, in announcing that the delegation would be sent to Rome, said: "Cooperation and collaboration in facing questions and problems of common interest, is a path that will gradually dispel the mistrust and suspicion of the past and lead to reciprocal trust being established between us, with the intention of overcoming ecclesiological and dogmatic differences; differences that prevent both union and the common prayer that derives from and is the culmination of that union. ... The visit of our delegation is an important step in this direction and we pray that it may have a positive effect, not only in promoting our reciprocal collaboration but also in safeguarding the Christian identity of Europe."

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