Pope prays for Middle East in meeting with Oriental Orthodox Churches
(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday met with members of the Joint International
Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox
Churches which began its series of annual encounters exactly ten years ago. In his
address to the group, the Pope prayed especially for peace and justice in the Middle
East where many of these ancient Churches are based.
Below please find the
full text of the Pope's speech:
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Dear Brothers
in Christ,
It is with joy in the Lord that I welcome you, the members of the
Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Through you I extend fraternal greetings to the
heads of all the Oriental Orthodox Churches. In a particular way I greet His Eminence
Anba Bishoy, Co-President of the Commission, and I thank him for his kind words. Before
all else I would like to recall with appreciation the memory of His Holiness Shenouda
III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, who died recently.
I also remember with gratitude His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian
Tewahedo Orthodox Church, who last year hosted the Ninth Meeting of the International
Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was saddened,
too, to learn of the death of the Most Reverend Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, Titular Archbishop
of Takrit and Procurator of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate in Rome and a member
of your Commission. I join you in prayer for the eternal rest of these dedicated
servants of the Lord. Our meeting today affords us an opportunity to reflect
together with gratitude on the work of the International Joint Commission, which began
ten years ago, in January 2003, as a initiative of the ecclesial authorities of the
family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity. In the past decade the Commission has examined from an historical
perspective the various ways in which the Churches expressed their communion in the
early centuries. During this week devoted to prayer for the unity of all Christ’s
followers, you have met to explore more fully the communion and communication which
existed between the Churches in the first five centuries of Christian history. In
acknowledging the progress which has been made, I express my hope that relations between
the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches will continue to develop in
a fraternal spirit of cooperation, particularly through the growth of a theological
dialogue capable of helping all the Lord’s followers to grow in communion and to bear
witness before the world to the saving truth of the Gospel. Many of you come from
areas where Christians, as individuals and communities, face painful trials and difficulties
which are a source of deep concern to us all. Through you, I would like to assure
all the faithful of the Middle East of my spiritual closeness and my prayer that this
land, so important in God’s plan of salvation, may be led, through constructive dialogue
and cooperation, to a future of justice and lasting peace. All Christians need to
work together in mutual acceptance and trust in serving the cause of peace and justice
in fidelity to the Lord’s will. May the example and intercession of the countless
martyrs and saints who down the ages have borne courageous witness to Christ in all
our Churches, sustain and strengthen all of us in meeting the challenges of the present
with confidence and hope in the future which the Lord is opening before us. Upon
you, and upon all those associated with the work of the Commission, I cordially invoke
a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s gifts of wisdom, joy and peace.