News:
Nov. 30, 2006 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news)
joined Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in celebrating the Divine
Liturgy on November 30, the promise that had brought him on his
4-day visit to Turkey.
Pope Benedict was greeted at the patriarchal church of St. George,
in the ancient Phanar section of Istanbul, with the ringing of the
church's bells. He then joined the Patriarch in the Byzantine
liturgy, with each prelate delivering a homily. After the ceremony,
the Pope and the Patriarch joined in signing a joint declaration,
affirming their commitment to the pursuit of full Christian
unity.
In his homily during the Thursday service, Pope Benedict carefully
expressed his deference toward the Constantinople patriarchate. He
began by noting that St. Andrew, whose was being celebrated, was
the apostle who brought his brother Simon to Jesus. And he referred
to Rome and Constantinople as "sister churches." Still, later in
his homily the Pope defended the primacy of Rome, observing that
St. Peter traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch and then to Rome, "so
that in that city he might exercise a universal
responsibility."
The Pontiff acknowledged that the subject of papal primacy "has
unfortunately given rise to our difference of opinion, which we
hope to overcome." He recalled that Pope John Paul II (bio - news)
had asked other Christian churches to suggest how the Petrine
ministry should be exercised today, in a way that would ease the
concerns of the Eastern churches without neglecting the papal
responsibility for unity within the universal Church. Pope Benedict
renewed that invitation.
"I can assure you that the Catholic Church is willing to do
everything possible to overcome obstacles" to full Christian unity,
the Pope said. He added: "The divisions which exist among
Christians are a scandal to the world and an obstacle to the
proclamation of the Gospel."
Patriarch Bartholomew, in his own homily, did not directly address
the practical questions of ecumenism, although he referred to the
Pontiff as "our brother and bishop of the elder Rome."
They celebrated the Byzantine Rite together.
