On Sunday the Vatican published a personal letter Pope Francis wrote to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople suggesting the leaders' gathering.

That same day Cardinal Kurt Koch — who heads the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity — hand-delivered the letter to Patriarch Bartholomew during his visit to Istanbul for the Orthodox Church's patronal feast of St Andrew.

"The now imminent 1,700th anniversary ... will be another opportunity to bear witness to the growing communion that already exists among all who are baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Francis wrote to Bartholomew.

Reflecting on six decades of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue while looking ahead to future possibilities for unity, Francis was positive.

He acknowledged the progress made since Vatican II's Unitatis Redintegratio decree marked the Catholic Church's official entry into the ecumenical movement 60 years ago.

Koch is firm that efforts toward unity must focus on "the innermost centre of self-revelation in Jesus Christ".

There must be an "ecumenism of blood" he says.

"Christians are not persecuted because they are Catholic, Lutheran or Anglican but because they are Christian."

Building peace in a time of war

While celebrating the "renewed fraternity" which Catholic-Orthodox communities had achieved since Vatican II, Francis also wrote in his letter to Bartholomew that full communion, particularly sharing "the one Eucharistic chalice", remains an unfulfilled goal.

Speaking of contemporary global tensions, Francis pointedly connected ecumenical efforts to peace-building.

"The fraternity lived and the witness given by Christians will also be a message for our world plagued by war and violence" his letter says. He specifically mentioned several war-torn countries by name, including Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Lebanon.

He also highlighted Orthodox representatives' recent participation in October's Synod on Synodality.

The traditional Catholic-Orthodox exchange of delegations occurs twice a year. Catholic representatives travel to Istanbul for St Andrew's feast on November 30 and Orthodox delegates visit Rome for the feast of Sts Peter and Paul on June 29.

The delegation participated in the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St George, Phanar. It also held discussions with the synodal commission charged with relations with the Catholic Church.

Source

• CNA

In a message to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I on Monday, Francis praised Bartholomew's efforts to promote Christian unity.

"We can thank God that relations between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate have grown much over the past century, even as we continue to yearn for the goal of the restoration of full communion expressed through participation at the same Eucharistic altar," he wrote.

"Although obstacles remain, I am confident that by walking together in mutual love and pursuing theological dialogue, we will reach that goal."

Francis also expressed his hope for full communion "based on our common faith in Jesus Christ, sent by God the Father to gather all people into one body, and the cornerstone of the one and holy Church, God's holy temple, in which all of us are living stones, each according to our own particular charism or ministry bestowed by the Holy Spirit."

The pope sends a message to the Patriarch each year on 30 November, which is the Orthodox feast day of St Andrew. The Patriarch is regarded as the successor of St. Andrew the Apostle and is "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In this week's message, Francis recalls his most recent meeting with Bartholomew at an international meeting for peace in Rome in October.

"Together with the challenges posed by the current pandemic, war continues to afflict many parts of the world, while new armed conflicts emerge to steal the lives of countless men and women," he says.

"Undoubtedly all initiatives taken by national and international entities aimed at promoting peace are useful and necessary, yet conflict and violence will never cease until all people reach a deeper awareness that they have a mutual responsibility as brothers and sisters."

"In light of this, the Christian Churches, together with other religious traditions, have a primary duty to offer an example of dialogue, mutual respect and practical cooperation."

Bartholomew sought Christian unity "before the Catholic Church and other Churches engaged themselves in dialogue," Francis's message continues.

He cites an encyclical letter issued by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1920, which says Churches could heal divisions if they placed love "before everything else in their judgment of the others and in relation towards each other."

A delegation from the Vatican also made its way to Istanbul for its customary visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Feast of St. Andrew.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, led the delegation.

The delegates attended a Divine Liturgy presided over by the Bartholomew at St. George's Cathedral, the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Afterwards, Koch read Francis's message and presented the Ecumenical Patriarch with a signed copy, which Francis concludes saying:

"With these sentiments, I renew my warmest best wishes for the Feast of St. Andrew, and exchange with Your All Holiness an embrace of peace in the Lord."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Vatican News

Both Catholic and Orthodox churches marked Friday as a day of prayer for God's creation.

The two spiritual leaders say the world's state of degradation is a result of "moral decay" and "our insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planet's limited resources and our greed for limitless profit in markets."

Climate change and other environmental ills have created an ecological crisis that is harming the world's poorest the most, they say.

People are part of creation and generations to come will suffer unless concrete and collective action is taken, they warn.

"The human environment and the natural environment are deteriorating together, and this deterioration of the planet weighs upon the most vulnerable of its people.

"The impact of climate change affects, first and foremost, those who live in poverty in every corner of the globe. Our obligation to use the earth's goods responsibly implies the recognition of and respect for all people and all living creatures.

"The urgent call and challenge to care for creation are an invitation for all of humanity to work towards sustainable and integral development."

Rubbishing the "alternative worldview" that considers nature as a private possession to be exploited regardless of the cost, the two leaders said they "urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the Earth ...".

We must "attend to the needs of the marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of millions and support the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation.

"We are convinced that there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, unless we give priority to solidarity and service."

Source

• Washington Post
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: esdaw

It had been widely reported that Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope Francis had agreed on the gathering to mark 1700 years since the First Council of Nicaea.

This was what Patriarch Bartholomew told Asia News following his meeting with the Pope in Jerusalem.

But Vatican spokesman Fr Thomas Rosica said no formal announcement or convocation of this event has come from the Vatican.

"It is very early to jump to conclusions," he said.

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This will mark 1700 years since the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, which is recognised by both east and west.

After meeting Pope Francis in Jerusalem last month, Patriarch Bartholomew told Asia News about the planned gathering.

"We agreed to leave as a legacy to ourselves and our successors a gathering in Nicaea in 2025, to celebrate together, after 17 centuries, the first truly ecumenical synod, where the Creed was first promulgated," the patriarch reportedly said.

Nicaea is today called Iznik, in modern Turkey.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said such a gathering is a nice proposal, but added he had no further details.

R. Andrew Chesnut, a professor of Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the 2025 meeting would aim at improving Catholic-Orthodox relations and supporting Middle Eastern Christians.

"Both Francis and Bartholomew are not only motivated by the cause of ecumenism, but also by forming a united front against the persecution of Christianity in the Middle East where the number of Catholics and Orthodox have dwindled over the past couple decades," Dr Chestnut said.

Francis and Bartholomew met to mark 50 years since the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem.

In a joint statement Francis and Bartholomew described their Jerusalem encounter as "a new and necessary step on the journey towards the unity to which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of communion in legitimate diversity".

They praised work done in theological dialogue between the traditions.

"This is no mere theoretical exercise, but an exercise in truth and love that demands an ever deeper knowledge of each other's traditions in order to understand them and to learn from them," the statement explained.

They affirmed that "theological dialogue does not seek a theological lowest common denominator on which to reach a compromise".

Rather, it is about "deepening one's grasp of the whole truth that Christ has given to his Church, a truth that we never cease to understand better as we follow the Holy Spirit's promptings".

Sources

• Asia News
• Huffington Post
• Joint Statement by Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew
• CNA
• Image: Daily Mail

The meeting of Athenagoras and Paul VI in Jerusalem led to the rescinding of the excommunications of 1054 which formalised the Great Schism between the churches of East and West.

Bartholomew I also invited Pope Francis to Constantinople for the feast day of St Andrew on November 30.

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