GREEK ORTHODOX PRIESTS AND SEMINARIANS VISIT ROME

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2006 (VIS) - A group of priests and seminarians from the Theological College of "Apostoliki Diakonia" of the Orthodox Church of Greece are due to make a visit to Rome from February 24 to 28.

  According to a communique made public yesterday afternoon, the visit has been organized with the help of the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The group - made up of 31 priests and seminarians from the faculty of theology and other faculties of the University of Athens - is being led by Bishop Agathangelos, director general of the "Apostoliki Diakonia" and representative of His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and of all Greece.

  In addition to an audience with the Holy Father on February 27, the group will visit the Vatican Apostolic Library where the famous Greek manuscript of the "Menologue of Basil II" is conserved. Also scheduled are visits to the Monastery of St. Mary at Grottaferrata outside Rome, and to the four major basilicas of Rome. They will also meet seminarians and priests from the diocese of Rome who last year, at the invitation of the "Apostoliki Diakonia," spent five weeks in Athens seeking a better understanding of the Orthodox faith. The Catholic priests and seminarians are also due to attend a liturgical ceremony to be held in the church of St. Theodore Megalomartyr of the Greek-Orthodox community in Rome.
CON-UC/GREEK ORTHODOX VISIT/...                    VIS 20060223 (250)