Zenit: Papal Address to Delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

Venerable brothers, in our meeting today, while we entrust to the intercession of the glorious Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul our prayer, so that the Lord, rich in mercy, will grant us to arrive soon the blessed day in which we will be able to share the Eucharistic table, we raise our voices in a hymn of praise to God for the path of peace and reconciliation that He gives us to follow together. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Vatican II Ecumenical Council, which will be celebrated solemnly next October 11. It is in fact in concomitance with this Council, at which, as you well know, some representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate were present in the capacity of fraternal Delegates, that a new and important phase began of relations between our Churches. We wish to praise the Lord first of all for the rediscovery of the profound fraternity that binds us, and also for the path followed in these years by the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church as a whole, with the hope that in the present phase progress will also be made.


Recalling the anniversary of Vatican Council II, it seems fitting to me to recall the figure and activity of the unforgettable Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, of whom will be observed in a few days the 40th anniversary of his death. Patriarch Athenagoras, together with Blessed Pope John XXIII and the Servant of God Paul VI, animated by that passion for the unity of the Church springing from faith in Christ the Lord, were promoters of courageous initiatives that opened the way to renew relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Catholic Church. It is a motive of particular joy for me to see how His Holiness Bartholomew I follows, with renewed fidelity and fecund creativity, the path traced by his Predecessors the Patriarchs Athenagoras and Dimitrios, distinguishing himself at the international level for his openness to the dialogue between Christians and for his commitment to the service of proclaiming the Gospel in the contemporary world.