HOLY SEE DELEGATION IN ISTANBUL FOR FEAST OF ST. ANDREW

VATICAN CITY, NOV 30, 2001 (VIS) - A delegation from the Holy See, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is in Istanbul for the liturgical celebrations today of the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the ecumenical patriarchate. The patriarchate sends a delegation to the Church of Rome every year for the June 29 feast of its patrons, Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Holy See delegation will meet with His Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch and archbishop of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and will hold talks with the synodal commission charged with relations with the Catholic Church.

As he does every year on this occasion, Pope John Paul II has sent a Message to Patriarch Bartholomew. The Message, written in French, is dated November 22.

"In jointly celebrating Andrew and Peter," wrote the Pope, "we show our common desire to transmit together the apostolic faith to the men and women of our time, who too often allow themselves to be overcome by religious indifference, which leads to a loss of the meaning of life. ... The divisions that persist and the acrimony that sometimes is seen among Christians weakens the strength of our Christian preaching which proclaims love for God and our neighbor."
John Paul II thanked the patriarch for "responding favorably to the Catholic Church's request for collaboration and for encouraging initiatives by the Orthodox Churches, which foresee participation by the Church of Rome." He stressed that "The Catholic Church is ready to do all in its power to promote the development of relations with the Orthodox Churches," adding that the difficulties encountered in "the theological dialogue must be analyzed and overcome."

In closing remarks, the Holy Father stated: "Lately, terrorism and wars, with all the weight of death and destruction that they bear, have engendered an anxiety that paralyzes populations and upsets the normal course of civil life. To beg God's protection on all peoples and to reawaken men's consciences, I judged it opportune to call all believers to a day of fasting and of prayer for peace next January 24. The Lord will hear the prayer, that we raise with one heart, for the salvation of all of mankind."

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