Pope Benedict XVI receives Delegation of Catholic Bishops and Orthodox Metropolitans

(N0vember 24, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI met on Wednesday at the Vatican the joint delegation of Roman Catholic Bishops and Orthodox Metropolitans who had participated in the 2nd European Catholic-Orthodox Forum, which was held in Rhodes, Greece from18th to 22nd October 2011 and presented him with a special edition of the Acta of the Forum. “The meeting with the Holy Father confirms the mutual respect and desire of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in Europe to continue the work in unison to witness together to the Gospel of Christ and promote awareness of and respect for the values of which Christianity is the bearer in a Europe marked by secularisation and in search of its identity”, said Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest at the end of the meeting. The theme of the Forum was Church-State relations. The first European Catholic-Orthodox Forum took place in Trent, Italy in December 2008 on the theme of the family. In recent years, awareness of the need for joint work between the Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church in Europe has increased, as testified to by the reception this ecumenical initiative received from Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Orthodox Churches. This Forum does not intend to replace the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church which has been in place since 1980. A third Forum will take place in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon from 5 to 8 June 2012.