VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2009 (VIS) - As is traditional for the Feast of St. Andrew, the Pope has written a Message to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The Message was delivered during the course of a visit to Istanbul by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
In his English-language Message for the feast of the patron of the patriarchate of Constantinople, the Pope recalls how that saint was brother to St. Peter and, like him, suffered martyrdom. "The memory of the holy martyrs compels all Christians to bear witness to their faith before the world", he writes. "There is an urgency in this call especially in our own day, in which Christianity is faced with increasingly complex challenges".
"Our Churches have committed themselves sincerely over the last decades to pursuing the path towards the re-establishment of full communion, and although we have not yet reached our goal, many steps have been taken that have enabled us to deepen the bonds between us".
The Holy Father goes on to note that "this openness has guided the work of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, which held its eleventh plenary session in Cyprus last month" on the theme "the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Church in the first millennium". This subject was "certainly complex and will require extensive study and patient dialogue if we are to aspire to a shared integration of the traditions of East and West", he says.
"The Catholic Church understands the Petrine ministry as a gift of the Lord to His Church. This ministry should not be interpreted in the perspective of power, but within an ecclesiology of communion, as a service to unity in truth and charity. The Bishop of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity ... is understood to be the 'Servus Servorum Dei' (Servant of the Servants of God). ... It is a question of seeking together, inspired by the model of the first millennium, the forms in which the ministry of the Bishop of Rome may accomplish a service of love recognised by one and all".
And, "even as we make this journey towards full communion, we should already offer common witness by working together in the service of humanity, especially in defending the dignity of the human person, in affirming fundamental ethical values, in promoting justice and peace". Our Churches, Pope Benedict concludes, "can work together in drawing attention to humanity's responsibility for the safeguarding of creation".
MESS/ST. ANDREW/BARTHOLOMEW I VIS 20091130 (440)
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