Vatican City, 30 November 2015 (VIS) –
As is customary on the feast day of St. Andrew, patron of the
ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, a Holy See delegation led
by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, travelled to Istanbul to participate in
the celebration. The Holy See and the Patriarchate exchange regular
annual visits for the feast days of their respective patrons: the
Patriarchate sends a delegation to Rome on 29 June, the feast day of
the apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, every year.
The delegation participated in the
Divine Liturgy celebrated by Patriarch Bartholomaois I in the
patriarchal church of St. George of Phanar, then met with the synodal
commission which oversees relations with the Catholic Church, and
delivered a message from the Holy Father, read at the end of the
Divine Liturgy.
In the text, Francis recalls in
particular the fiftieth anniversary of the of the Joint
Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras I which expressed the decision to eliminate the
mutual excommunications of 1054. “The memory of the mutual
sentences of excommunication, together with the offensive words,
groundless reproaches, and reprehensible gestures on both sides,
which accompanied the sad events of this period, represented for many
centuries an obstacle to rapprochement in charity between Catholics
and Orthodox. Attentive to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
prayed to the Father on the eve of his Passion that his disciples
'may be one', Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I consigned
these painful memories to oblivion. Since then, the logic of
antagonism, mistrust and hostility that had been symbolised by the
mutual excommunications has been replaced by the logic of love and
brotherhood, represented by our fraternal embrace.
“While not all differences between
the Catholic and Orthodox Churches were brought to an end, there now
existed the conditions necessary to journey towards re-establishing
the 'full communion of faith, fraternal accord and sacramental life
which existed among them during the first thousand years of the life
of the Church'. Having restored a relationship of love and
fraternity, in a spirit of mutual trust, respect and charity, there
is no longer any impediment to Eucharistic communion which cannot be
overcome through prayer, the purification of hearts, dialogue and the
affirmation of truth. Indeed, where there is love in the life of the
Church, its source and fulfilment is always to be found in
Eucharistic love. So too the symbol of the fraternal embrace finds
its most profound truth in the embrace of peace exchanged in the
Eucharistic celebration.
“In order to progress on our journey
towards the full communion for which we long, we need continually to
draw inspiration from the gesture of reconciliation and peace by our
venerable predecessors Paul VI and Athenagoras I. At all levels and
in every context of Church life, relations between Catholics and
Orthodox must increasingly reflect the logic of love that leaves no
room for the spirit of rivalry. Theological dialogue itself,
sustained by mutual charity, must continue to examine carefully the
questions which divide us, aiming always at deepening our shared
understanding of revealed truth. Motivated by God’s love, we must
together offer the world a credible and effective witness to Christ’s
message of reconciliation and salvation.
“The world today has great need of
reconciliation, particularly in light of so much blood which has been
shed in recent terrorist attacks. May we accompany the victims with
our prayers, and renew our commitment to lasting peace by promoting
dialogue between religious traditions, for 'indifference and mutual
ignorance can only lead to mistrust and unfortunately even conflict'.
“I wish to express my deep
appreciation for Your Holiness’ fervent commitment to the critical
issue of care for creation, for which your sensitivity and awareness
is an exemplary witness for Catholics. I believe that it is a hopeful
sign for Catholics and Orthodox that we now celebrate together an
annual Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September,
following the long-standing practice of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
In this regard, I assure you of my prayers for the important
international meeting on the environment to be held in Paris at which
you will participate.
“Your Holiness, it is incumbent upon
humanity to rediscover the mystery of mercy, 'the bridge that
connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved
forever despite our sinfulness'. For this reason I have called for an
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, a favourable time to contemplate the
Father’s mercy revealed fully in his Son, Jesus Christ, and to
become ourselves an effective sign of God’s love through our mutual
pardon and works of mercy. It is providential that the anniversary of
that historic Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration concerning the
removal of the excommunications of 1054 occurs on the eve of the Year
of Mercy. Following Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I,
Catholics and Orthodox today must ask pardon of God and one another
for divisions that Christians have brought about in the Body of
Christ. I ask you and all the faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
to pray that this Extraordinary Jubilee may bear the spiritual fruits
for which we yearn. I willingly assure you of my prayers for the
events that your Church will celebrate in the year to come,
especially the Pan-Orthodox Great Synod. May this important occasion
for all the Orthodox Churches be a source of abundant blessings for
the life of the Church”, concluded the Holy Father.
No comments:
Post a Comment