Ben and Bart

[Sean]

http://www.zenit.org/article-24424?l=english

ZE08113008 - 2008-11-30

Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-24424?l=english

Pope's Message to Bartholomew I

"Relations Between Us Are Entering Progressively Deeper Levels"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org). - Here is
the text of the message Benedict XVI sent to
Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for the feast of
St. Andrew, which is today.

The message was delivered by a Vatican delegation
sent to visit the ecumenical patriarch of
Constantinople for the occasion. The president
and secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper
and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively, were
accompanied by Domincan Father Vladimiro Caroli,
of the council, and Archbishop Antonio Lucibello,
the apostolic nuncio in Ankara.

---

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father"' (Gal 1: 3)

It is with deep joy that I address these words of
Saint Paul to Your Holiness, the Holy Synod and
all the Orthodox clergy and lay people assembled
for the feast of Saint Andrew, the brother of
Saint Peter and, like him, a great apostle and
martyr for Christ. I am pleased to be represented
on This festal occasion by a delegation led by my
venerable brother Cardinal Walter Kasper,
President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity, to whom I am entrusting this
message of greetings. My own prayers join with
yours as we plead with the Lord for the
well-being and unity of the followers of Christ
throughout the world.

I give thanks to God that he has enabled us to
deepen the bonds of mutual love between us,
supported by prayer and ever more regular
fraternal contact. In the course of the year that
is now drawing to a close, we have been blessed
three times by the presence of Your Holiness in
Rome: on the occasion of your magisterial address
at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, which is
honoured to number you among its alumni; at the
opening of the Pauline Year on the feast of
Rome's patron saints, Peter and Paul; and at the
Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops of the Catholic Church, held in October
on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the
Church, when you delivered a most thoughtful address.

As a sign of our growing communion and spiritual
closeness, the Catholic Church for her part was
represented at the celebrations of the Pauline
Year overseen by Your Holiness, including a
symposium and a pilgrimage to the Pauline sites
in Asia Minor. These experiences of encounter and
shared prayer contribute to an increase in our
commitment to attain the goal of our ecumenical journey.

In this same spirit, Your Holiness has informed
me of the positive outcome of the Synaxis of the
Primates and Representatives of the Orthodox
Churches, which took place recently at the
Phanar. The hopeful signs which emerged for
inter-Orthodox relations and ecumenical
engagement have been welcomed with joy. I believe
and pray that these developments will have a
constructive impact on the official theological
dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the
Catholic Church, and will lead to a resolution of
the difficulties experienced in the last two
sessions. As Your Holiness remarked during your
address to the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic
Church, the Joint International Commission for
Theological Dialogue between Catholics and
Orthodox is now addressing a crucial issue which,
once resolved, would draw us closer to full communion.

On this feast of Saint Andrew, we reflect with
joy and thanksgiving that the relations between
us are entering progressively deeper levels as we
renew our commitment to the path of prayer and
dialogue. We trust that our common journey will
hasten the arrival of that blessed day when we
will praise God together in a shared celebration
of the Eucharist. The inner life of our Churches
and the challenges of our modem world urgently
demand this witness of unity among Christ's disciples.

It is with these brotherly sentiments that I
extend to Your Holiness my cordial greetings in
the Lord, who assures us of his grace and peace.

From the Vatican, 26 November 2008

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

[Sean]

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13903&size=A

12/02/2008 14:19

TURKEY

Bartholomew: search for unity between Orthodox and Catholics "a duty"

by NAT da Polis

On the occasion of the feast of St. Andrew, founder of the Church of
Constantinople, the patriarch and Cardinal Kasper reaffirm that the
ecumenical journey is a road without alternatives.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - The homilies for the services and celebrations
for the patron of Constantinople, St. Andrew, were centered on the
certainty that the common journey toward full unity between the two
sister Churches - Catholic and Orthodox - is the only answer,
including to the challenges of today's world in full economic,
political, and social crisis.

The celebrations were attended by a large delegation from the Church
of Rome, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the council for
Christian unity, representatives of the other Christian confessions,
the diplomatic corps, and various authorities.

Ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew began his homily by recalling the
historic meeting in Jerusalem in 1964, between Paul VI and
Athenagoras, which put an end to the historic and distasteful schism
of 1054 between the two sister Churches, initiating a dialogue of
love and truth in full and mutual respect, with the objective of
reestablishing full communion. And precisely in order to highlight
this journey toward full communion, Bartholomew gave the example of
the two brothers "in the flesh," Andrew and Peter, who later became
spiritual brothers in Christ, to emphasize the role that the two
sister Churches must play. Although the two brothers Peter and Andrew
followed different geographical paths to testify to the truth of
Christ our Lord - the former sanctified the Church of Rome with his
own blood, while the latter founded the Church of Byzantium, which
later became Constantinople - they have remained united in the course
of history through the two Churches: Rome and Constantinople.

This connection between the two apostles, Bartholomew continued, the
beginning of which was biological in nature, later became a spiritual
bond in the name of our Lord, and ended up constituting the bond that
unites the Churches. And this bond must always be kept in mind,
continued the ecumenical patriarch, in order to restore full unity.
Because today, by honoring the apostle Andrew, one also honors the
apostle Peter - it is not possible to think of Peter and Andrew
separately. The thorns must therefore be removed which for a
millennium have wounded relations between the two Churches, and
guidance toward unity must be taken from the spirit of the common
tradition of the seven ecumenical councils of the first millennium.
And all of this is not only out of respect for our two apostles,
Bartholomew concluded, but also because it is our duty toward the
contemporary world, which is going through a tremendous
sociopolitical, cultural, and economic crisis. A world that has
urgent need of the message of peace, of which the founder of our
Church, Jesus Christ, is the messenger, through his cross and
resurrection. Only then will the word of our Church be credible, when
it can also give a message of peace and love: "Come and see" (John
1:47).

Cardinal Kasper, as the pope's representative, also focused in his
homily on the importance of dialogue for full unity between the
Churches, saying that the same feast is celebrated today in Rome, a
sign of our common apostolic heritage, which requires us to work for
full communion. Because this ecumenical commitment is not an option,
but a duty toward our Lord, in order to be able to consider ourselves
an essential part of the Church of Christ, our Lord.

Kasper then cited the three visits of the ecumenical patriarch to
Rome in 2008, which included his participation, together with Pope
Benedict, in the inauguration of the Pauline year, and his address to
the synod of Catholic bishops, also at the invitation of the pope.
This reinforced the bonds between Rome and Constantinople. He
concluded by speaking of the importance of the document of Ravenna
(2007) in the dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.

Finally, in a conversation with AsiaNews, Cardinal Kasper maintained
that the journey with the Orthodox, although it will certainly not be
short, has started on the right path, "in part because we have many,
many things in common with the Orthodox." Moreover, Kasper continued,
the fact that Constantinople has a very broad vision helps a great
deal in the journey of dialogue toward full communion.