DIVISION DAMAGES PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2002 (VIS) - The Pope celebrated Mass this morning in private in the chapel of the apostolic nunciature and later went to the presidential palace to make a courtesy visit to the president of the Republic of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov. From there, he continued on to the patriarchal cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, the biggest Orthodox church in the Balkan peninsula, which was completed in 1912 and dedicated to Nevsky, prince of Novgorod, Russia in honor of the Russian liberators after five centuries of Ottoman domination.

At the end of the visit to the cathedral, the Holy Father went to the Monument of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where a floral wreath was laid, and then to the patriarchal palace where he was received by His Holiness the Orthodox Patriarch of Bulgaria, Maxim, and the fifteen members of the Holy Synod.

After a brief address by Patriarch Maxim, the Pope began his speech, in Bulgarian, by recalling that May 24 - the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius - was a very significant day for him because, from the beginning of his pontificate, Bulgarian delegations have come to the Vatican on that date. Their visits, he said, "were pleasant opportunities to meet not only the noble Bulgarian nation but also the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria ... in the person of the Bishops who represented you. Today the Lord enables us to meet personally and to exchange 'the kiss of peace'."

"I come among you," he affirmed, "with a sense of esteem for the mission which the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria is undertaking, and I wish to express my respect and appreciation for your commitment to the good of the people of this land."

After praising the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's perseverance in proclaiming the Gospel for centuries, despite historical events that were "complex and at times hostile," John Paul II underlined that his visit, the first of a bishop of Rome to this country, was a reason for joy because "it is a sign of a gradual growth in ecclesial communion. Yet this cannot distract us from sincerely recognizing that Christ our Lord founded a single Church, while we today appear to the world divided, as if Christ Himself were divided." The Pope emphasized that this division was a scandal for the world and damaged "the preaching of the Gospel."

"One thing, however, consoles us," affirmed the Holy Father, "the estrangement between Catholics and Orthodox has never extinguished in them the desire to restore full ecclesial communion. ... Today we can give thanks to God that the bonds between us have been much strengthened." He recalled that Vatican Council II underlined that "the Orthodox Churches 'possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the Priesthood and the Eucharist,'" recognizing also that "far from being an obstacle to the Church's unity, ... the diversity of customs and observances only adds to her beauty."

The Pope cited as an example of unity Saints Cyril and Methodius, whose "witness is relevant even to those who, in the field of politics, are working to bring about European unification. ... The whole of Europe, both West and East, expects Catholics and Orthodox to work together for the defense of peace and justice, human rights and the culture of life." John Paul II affirmed that the example of Cyril and Methodius was "emblematic for the unity of Christians in the one Church of Christ," and recalled that when the patriarch of Constantinople sent them to preach the true faith to enslaved peoples in their own language "in the face of obstacles placed on that path by the neighboring Western dioceses which claimed that it was their responsibility to bring the Cross of Christ to the Slav countries, they came to the Pope in order to have their mission confirmed."

At the end of his speech, the Pope offered the Bulgarian Orthodox community in Rome, "with a view to increasing our knowledge of each other, our mutual charity and our fraternal cooperation," the liturgical use of the Church of Saints Vincent and Anastasius at the Trevi Fountain. The Pope also gave the Bulgarian Orthodox Church a relic of St. Dasius, a soldier from Silistra, martyred in the fourth century in Rome, whose remains are preserved in the Italian archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo.

When the meeting was over, the Pope went to the apostolic nunciature to have lunch with the Catholic bishops of the country.

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