Pope calls for unity in letter to head of Greek Orthodox

Pope Benedict XVI urged Orthodox and Catholics to continue to work towards unity, as part of a campaign to heal a rift between the two feuding branches of Christianity.

28/11/2010

In a letter to Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Benedict called for Christians to “demonstrate” their “united” efforts for a “common” front in modern society.

“In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity,” Christians are “called to proclaim with renewed conviction the truth of the Gospel,” the pope said.

Christ should be proclaimed “as the answer to the deepest questions and spiritual aspirations of the men and women of our day,” he added.

In order “to succeed in this great task,” Catholics and Orthodox “need to continue our progress along the path towards full communion,” Benedict said.

The pope’s letter was delivered to Bartholomew I by cardinal Kurt Koch, the head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, during celebrations to mark the festival of St. Andrew, the patron saint of the Constantinople Church.

Bringing the two feuding branches of Christianity back together after nearly a millennium apart is a key goal of Benedict’s papacy.

The schism between the Eastern and Western Rites was sealed in 1054 after long-running disputes over papal primacy and theological differences.

In 1204, the Fourth Crusade carried out the brutal sack of Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, further deepening hostilities.

Benedict is following the lead of his late friend and mentor John Paul II, who visited Istanbul in 1979, just one year after he was elected pope, to announce the creation of a joint Orthodox-Catholic committee to resolve differences.

The Vatican also hopes to improve ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Relations between the two institutions have been tense for centuries and were again strained in recent years by Orthodox accusations of Catholics proselytizing in post-Soviet Russia.

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