VATICAN CITY, JUN 27, 2004 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus today at noon, the Pope announced that on June 29, Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul, Apostles, he will receive in the Vatican His Holiness Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. "We want to commemorate together the historic encounter between our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras who exchanged an unforgettable embrace of fraternity and peace in Jerusalem forty years ago ... during the Second Vatican Council."
"Precisely in November of the same year," he recalled, "the council Fathers approved the decree 'Unitatis redintegratio.' In this decree, it was solemnly affirmed that promoting unity between all Christians was one of the principal objectives of the Council, and that to achieve this all the institutions and ecclesial communities must direct their efforts toward achieving this objective."
John Paul II said that "during this period, in spite of the difficulties that remain even today, notable steps have been taken toward ecumenism and within the People of God an ecumenical sensibitivity has developed. The week of Prayer for Christian Unity has come to form a normal part of the liturgical-pastoral path of dioceses and parishes. Many are the associations and ecclesial communities that dedicate constant attention to reciprocal knowledge and friendship among Christians of different confessions, such that they are united more and more in works of solidarity, justice and peace."
"While we prepare ourselves to welcome the ecumenical patriarch," he concluded, "I invite everyone to pray for Christian unity, invoking the intercession of Our Lady. May the Holy Mother of God, to whom so many Eastern Christians are devoted, allow the embrace between Paul VI and Athenagoras I to favor a renewed commitment to communion between Orthodox and Catholics."
After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father recalled that the World Day Against Torture was celebrated yesterday, and he urged "that the common commitment of institutions and citizens be able to completely eliminate this intolerable violation of human rights, radically contrary to the dignity of man."
Addressing a group of young Israelis and Palestinians who, together with their families, are being hosted in Naples, the Pope said: "Together they want to say to the world that they want peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. They say it with particular force, since there have been victims of the present conflict in their families, Palestinian as well as Israeli. Everyone has the responsibility not to disappoint these young people and to help them to grow in their trust in God and in others."
ANG/CHRISTIAN UNITY/... VIS 20040628 (430)
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