VATICAN CITY, NOV 30, 2006 (VIS) - In Istanbul this evening, after visiting the Museum of Santa Sophia, the Holy Father went to the Blue Mosque where he and the Grand Mufti paused for a moment of meditation. The Pope then travelled to the city's Armenian apostolic patriarchate where he participated in a celebration of the Word in the Cathedral of the Mother of God. The patriarchate of Istanbul is under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of all Armenia, Karekin II.
Upon his arrival, Pope Benedict was received by His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian patriarch of Istanbul, with whom he entered the cathedral in procession. After the ceremony and an address by Mesrob II, the Holy Father addressed some brief remarks to those present.
"With great affection," said the Holy Father, "I greet the entire Armenian apostolic community. ... My fraternal greeting goes also to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of Holy Etchmiadzin, and the hierarchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church. I give thanks to God for the Christian faith and witness of the Armenian people, transmitted from one generation to the next, often in very tragic circumstances such as those experienced in the last century.
"Our meeting," he added, "is more than a simple gesture of ecumenical courtesy and friendship. It is a sign of our shared hope in God's promises and our desire to see fulfilled the prayer that Jesus offered for His disciples on the eve of His suffering and death: 'that they may all be one.' ... The tragic divisions which, over time, have arisen among Christ's followers openly contradict the Lord's will, give scandal to the world and damage that most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel to every creature. Precisely by the witness of their faith and love, Christians are called to offer a radiant sign of hope and consolation to this world, so marked by conflicts and tensions.
"We must continue therefore to do everything possible to heal the wounds of separation and to hasten the work of rebuilding Christian unity," said the Holy Father. "In this respect I can only offer heartfelt thanks to the Lord for the deeper fraternal relationship that has developed between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church."
In closing, the Pope quoted the words of one of the great Doctors of the Armenian Church, Nerses of Lambron, who lived in the thirteenth century: "'Now, since we all need peace with God, let its foundation be harmony among the brethren.' ... These words of Nerses have lost nothing of their power. Together let us continue to pray for the unity of all Christians."
Following the ceremony, a stone tablet in the form of an Armenian cross was unveiled, bearing inscriptions in Latin and Armenian recalling the visits to the cathedral by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
PV-TURKEY/ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE/MESROB VIS 20061201 (490)
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