Orthodox Patriarch Says Unity an Obligation
Sends Message to Vatican on Feast of St. Andrew

By Miriam Diez i Bosch

ISTANBUL, Turkey, DEC. 5, 2007 ( Zenit.org).- It is an obligation to reclaim the spiritual, sacramental and doctrinal unity that Europe enjoyed prior to the schism of the East and West, said the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople.

Bartholomew I said this Friday in a letter addressed to a delegation sent by Benedict XVI to Istanbul for the regular exchange of visits between the two Churches for the feasts of St. Andrew, Nov. 30, and Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, led the delegation.

Bartholomew I affirmed the presence of the delegation "both strengthens and seals the bonds of love and trust between our Churches, bonds which have been cultivated in recent decades, and which have been especially established by the visit" of Benedict XVI in November 2006.

The patriarch also emphasized "that the peaceful coexistence of Christians, in a spirit of unity and concord, must constitute the fundamental concern of us all."

Battling secularism

Bartholomew I recognized that in an age in which there is a rise of "secularism and relativism, or even nihilism, especially in the Western world," we must derive inspiration from the example of the Apostle Andrew, who knew how to "remain upstanding through the strength of Christ" in spite of "numerous difficulties."

The example of St. Andrew offers an opportunity to "pray together more intently for the restoration of unity within the Christian world," urged Bartholomew I, adding that "the fracture of this unity has been the cause of so much trouble in humanity, while its consequences have proved tragic."

Bartholomew I emphasized that the Enlightenment philosophy in the West and the French Revolution meant a true "cultural revolution aimed at replacing the previous Christian tradition of the Western world with a new, non-Christian, concept of man and society."

He said this "gave rise in many ways" to a "militant atheism and totalitarianism which, over the last two centuries, have unfortunately claimed the lives of millions of innocent victims."

The patriarch continued: "Today, then, it is our obligation more than ever to reclaim the Christian roots of Europe and the spiritual, sacramental and doctrinal unity that it enjoyed prior to the schism of our two Churches.

"The re-evangelization of our peoples is 'today, more so than ever before, timely and necessary, even within traditional Christian lands,' as we admitted and confessed in common here exactly one year ago."

Any comments? I, for one, am encouraged.

And then there was Moscow...

Inter-church dialogue with folks having inta-communion stress and conflict is tricky.

Constantinople has the prestige of history, but VERY sadly, several century of systematic oppression up to and including the efforts of today's "secular" Turkish state, the PoC's actual church is in a bad way. And there is no joy in it for me to say that with frankness, I need to be clear on that. It is heart wrenching.

The problem of loss of souls, which in a nation with only some 100,000 Christians (many of them in turn not Chalcedonian Orthodox or Catholic) is problematic for a patriarchate that is just barely treading water under the weight of even secular Turkish oppression. (A visit to the patriarchal offices in Instanbul is heartbreaking - parochial high school offices seem brighter, cleaner, less repressed and "ghetto"... a midwestern strip mall office would be a step up.)

Practically an enfeebled prisoner in the Phanar overseeing (in Turkey) a decimated Greek Orthodox population from whose number only a very few Turkish-born Greek monks could serve as his replacement... The prestige that city enjoyed as second Rome is gone, his patriarchate is not the oldest, and not the most powerful (that would now be Moscow, and they like to show it...)

Dare I suggest, Moscow knows this, and that plays a role in the power play that is present. Constantinople gets too cozy with Rome, sabre rattling and boisterous objection to the Catholics in Russia having priests and churches of their own begins. Watch the pattern. You'll see it.

I am hopeful for the future (to be a Christian demands perennial and unfailing hope!). BUT, that hope does not come from watching the Patriarchs.