Pope receives new head of Syrian Catholic Church

(June 19, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday received in the Vatican the new head of the eastern-rite Syrian Catholic Church, Patriarch Ignace Youssef III Younan and expressed appreciation and gratitude for the over a thousand-year old history of communion of Syrian Catholic Church with the Bishop of Rome. Patriarch Ignace Youssef III Younan was elected head of the Syrian Catholic Church on January 22nd and enthroned on February 15th in the Church’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The Patriarch led to the Pope a delegation of the members of the synod of his Church. In an address to the Patriarch and his synod, the Pope stressed that it is Christ Himself who established Peter the apostle as the ‘rock’ on whom would rest the spiritual structure of the Church, asking his disciples to walk with him and his successors in full unity. The Pope noted that the Syrian Catholic Church in its over a thousand-year history has always maintained this communion with the Bishop of Rome while at the same time being faithful to the spiritual tradition of the Christian east. The Pope pointed out that the Eucharistic is the root of this ecclesial unity and communion with the Catholic Church as well as with other oriental Churches. In conclusion, Pope Benedict expressed his closeness with the Christians of Middle East saying he constantly prays for peace in the region, especially for Christians who live in the beloved nation of Iraq, whose sufferings, he said, he offers daily to the Lord in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The Syrian Catholic Church headed by Patriarch Ignace Youssef III Younan has some 200, 000 followers worldwide.