VATICAN CITY JUN 29, 2004 (VIS) - At 11 a.m., the Pope received in audience His Holiness Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, accompanied by an entourage, on the 40th anniversary of the historic embrace that Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I exchanged in Jerusalem in January of 1964.
Referring to this "blessed encounter" of forty years ago, John Paul II exclaimed, "How providential was that courageous and joyful encounter for the Church! Driven by faith and love for God, our enlightened predecessors were able to overcome centuries-old prejudices and misunderstandings, and offered a wonderful example of pastors and leaders of the People of God. Rediscovering themselves brothers, they experienced a feeling of profound joy, which drove them to take up again with confidence the relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople. May God reward them in His kingdom!"
After highlighting that in these forty years the Catholic and Orthodox Churches "have experienced important occasions of contact which have fostered the spirit of reciprocal reconciliation," the Holy Father said that "the memories of painful events in the past have a certain weight," as in April 1204 when an "army that departed to retake the Holy Land for Christianity, went to Constantinople to capture and sack it, shedding the blood of brothers in the faith. How can we also, eight centuries later, not share the indignation and pain that Pope Innocent III immediately expressed about what happened? ... Let us pray together so that the Lord of history will purify our memories of every prejudice and resentment, and grant us to proceed freely on the path of unity."
"To this we are invited also by the example left by Patriarch Athenagoras I and Pope Paul VI," John Paul II said. "May the memory of that meeting foster a step forward in the dialogue and consolidation of mutual fraternal relations. Theological dialogue, through the 'mixed Commission' continues to be an important tool. Therefore, I hope that it may be reactivated as soon as possible. I am convinced, in fact, of this urgency and it is my will and that of my collaborators to provide all the means to nourish a spirit of acceptance and reciprocal understanding in fidelity to the Gospel and our common apostolic tradition."
After the meeting with the patriarch, John Paul II appeared at the window of his private study to pray the Angelus together with thousands of people who where gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Pope recalled that today the Church celebrates the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul: "the fisherman from Galilee who was the first to profess faith in Christ; the master and doctor who announced salvation to the people. Due to the will of divine Providence, both came to Rome where they suffered martyrdom in the course of a few short years. Since then, the city which was the capital of the great empire was called to a very distinct glory: to house the Apostolic See which presides over the universal mission of the Church to spread the Gospel of Christ, Redeemer of man and history, in the world."
"I entrust the beloved diocese of Rome as well as the entire civil community to these two remarkable patrons. Invoking their intercession and that of Our Lady, 'Salus populi romani', let us pray so that every man and woman may welcome the message of love for which Peter and Paul were martyred."
AC/.../BARTHOLOMEW I VIS 20040630 (580)
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