(Vatican Radio) Pope Franics has sent a Message to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
His Holiness, Bartholomew I, to mark the feast of the Patron of the Church at Constantinople,
St. Andrew the Apostle. Common concern for the plight of Christians in many parts
of the world, and especially in the Middle East, was a central focus of the Holy Father's
reflections. Below, please find the official English text of the Message.
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To
His Holiness Bartholomaios I Archbishop of Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarch
“Peace
be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Eph 6:23)
After welcoming with joy the delegation which Your Holiness
sent to Rome for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, it is with the same joy that
I convey, through this message entrusted to Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, my spiritual closeness on the feast of Saint
Andrew, Peter’s brother and the patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. With
the heartfelt affection reserved for beloved brothers, I offer my prayerful best wishes
to Your Holiness, to the members of the Holy Synod, to the clergy, monks and all the
faithful, and – together with my Catholic brothers and sisters – join your own prayer
on this festive occasion.
Your Holiness, beloved brother in Christ, this is
the first time that I address you on the occasion of the feast of the Apostle Andrew,
the first-called. I take this opportunity to assure you of my intention to pursue
fraternal relations between the Church of Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It
is for me a source of great reassurance to reflect on the depth and the authenticity
of our existing bonds, the fruit of a grace-filled journey along which the Lord has
guided our Churches since the historic encounter in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI
and Patriarch Athenagoras, the fiftieth anniversary of which we will celebrate shortly.
God, the source of all peace and love, has taught us throughout these years to regard
one another as members of the same family. For indeed we have one Lord and one Saviour.
We belong to him through the gift of the good news of salvation transmitted by the
apostles, through the one baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, and through the
holy ministry. United in Christ, therefore, we already experience the joy of authentic
brothers in Christ, while yet fully aware of not having reached the goal of full communion.
In anticipation of the day in which we will finally take part together in the Eucharistic
feast, Christians are duty-bound to prepare to receive this gift of God through prayer,
inner conversion, renewal of life and fraternal dialogue.
Our joy in celebrating
the feast of the Apostle Andrew must not make us turn our gaze from the dramatic situation
of the many people who are suffering due to violence and war, hunger, poverty and
grave natural disasters. I am aware that you are deeply concerned for the situation
of Christians in the Middle East and for their right to remain in their homelands.
Dialogue, pardon and reconciliation are the only possible means to achieve the resolution
of conflict. Let us be unceasing in our prayer to the all-powerful and merciful God
for peace in this region, and let us continue to work for reconciliation and the just
recognition of peoples’ rights.
Your Holiness, the memory of the martyrdom
of the apostle Saint Andrew also makes us think of the many Christians of all the
Churches and Ecclesial Communities who in many parts of the world experience discrimination
and at times pay with their own blood the price of their profession of faith. We
are presently marking the 1700th anniversary of Constantine’s Edict, which put an
end to religious persecution in the Roman Empire in both East and West, and opened
new channels for the dissemination of the Gospel. Today, as then, Christians of East
and West must give common witness so that, strengthened by the Spirit of the risen
Christ, they may disseminate the message of salvation to the entire world. There
is likewise an urgent need for effective and committed cooperation among Christians
in order to safeguard everywhere the right to express publicly one’s faith and to
be treated fairly when promoting the contribution which Christianity continues to
offer to contemporary society and culture.
It is with sentiments of profound
esteem and warm friendship in Christ that I invoke abundant blessings on Your Holiness
and on all the faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, asking the intercession of
the Virgin Mother of God and of the holy apostles and martyrs Peter and Andrew. With
the same sentiments I renew my best wishes and exchange with you a fraternal embrace
of peace.