VATICAN CITY, OCT 13, 2002 (VIS) - At 9:30 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, John Paul II presided at Mass in which His Beatitude Teoctist, Orthodox patriarch of Romania, and his entourage participated. The Pope and the patriarch both took part in the Liturgy of the Word, and prayed the Creed together, separating at the moment of the Eucharistic prayer.
After the proclamation of the Gospel in Latin and Romanian, Patriarch Teoctist read his homily. Referring to the spiritual crisis in the world, he affirmed that it is necessary "to discover once again the link between penitence and conversion, and a return to Christ, gentle and full of compassion, and also the rebuilding of communion between the Churches."
"Contemporary secularization is accompanied by a breach and impoverishment of man's interior spiritual life. In this way, secularization weakens even more the spiritual communion among Christians. Thus, today we must unite the search for sanctity in Christian life with the realization of Christian unity."
Later, in his homily, the Holy Father spoke about the Lord's call to "be part of His Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic," asking: "Unfortunately, haven't we rejected His invitation? Haven't we torn Christ's seamless cloak, distancing ourselves from others? Yes! This reciprocal division is contrary to His will." And he added: "One day we will be asked what we have done for the unity of Christians."
"True ecumenism cannot exist," he emphasized, "without interior conversion and renovation of the mind, without overcoming prejudices, suspicions; without eliminating words, judgements, actions that do not reflect the condition of our separated brothers with justice and truth; without the will to learn to esteem others, to establish a reciprocal friendship, to nourish a fraternal love."
"We must cultivate the spirituality of communion," concluded the Pope. "We must incessantly feed the passion for unity."
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