Another step in rapprochement
The visit to the Phanar and the meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios was the purpose – initially the only one – of the papal trip. It was a symbolic gesture of rapprochement between the Christian churches of the West and the East that started with the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athinagoras I in Jerusalem in 1964. Further steps followed, despite severe difficulties with disagreements in theology. Now the two churches have reconfirmed their will to persist in the effort to unite Christianity. The fraternal encounter between the two church leaders renews their «commitment to move toward full communion» between the two churches, which is «the Lord’s will» and their «responsibility as pastors in the Church of Christ,» they noted in the joint declaration signed by Benedict and Vartholomaios at noon on Thursday in the patriarchal Throne Room. «We exhort our faithful to take an active part in this process, through prayer and through significant gestures.» The declaration notes the responsibility of both churches «to proclaim the Gospel in today’s world… even in traditionally Christian countries. Moreover, we cannot ignore the increase of secularization, relativism and even nihilism, especially in the Western world. All this calls for a renewed and powerful proclamations of the Gospel, adapted to the cultures of our time.» With their clasped hands raised, Vartholomaios and Benedict sent out a powerful message to the Christian world and to Turkey of solidarity and mutual support between the two churches. They summed up this message in the reference they make to progress toward a united Europe in their declaration: «Those engaged in this great project should not fail to take into consideration all aspects affecting the inalienable rights of the human person, especially religious freedom, a witness and guarantor of respect for all other freedoms. In every step toward unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion.» The two leaders called on Catholics and Orthodox Christians to work together to protect human rights. The Phanar has every reason to be satisfied, since apart from the support for inter-church dialogue, its own ecumenical role was highlighted. This is important, not so much for its position in the Christian world, which is historically and ecclesiastically established but, given the special circumstances in Turkey with its European prospects. At the same time, at a pan-Orthodox level, the pope’s message to the leader of the Orthodox Church emphasizes the close fraternal relations between the two churches.
