Warm welcome for Orthodox in Vatican
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Greek Orthodox Church leaders paid a historic visit to Pope John Paul II yesterday, expanding the improvement in relations that began when the pope visited Greece last year. The 81-year-old Roman Catholic leader received the delegation warmly and spoke of the need for both sides to work toward Christian unity. In a message sent with the group, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, said the day was «truly auspicious» because leaders of the two Churches were meeting for the first time ever in Rome. The Greek Orthodox Church had agreed only grudgingly to the pope’s visit to Greece in May 2001 on a trip that also took him to Syria and Malta. The pope and Christodoulos conducted a joint service under the Areopagus, where St Paul addressed the Athenians in the first century AD. While in Greece, the pope asked forgiveness for the wrongs done by Roman Catholics to Orthodox Christians since the Great Schism of 1054 split the Church into Eastern and Western branches.
