POPE WELCOMES DELEGATION FROM ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE – POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN

The focus of today’s episode of EWTN’s “At Home with Jim and Joy” is: “How may we celebrate and give thanks for the lives and contributions of grandparents and the elderly?”

For my weekly contribution to this show, I quoted some of Pope Francis’ words on January 31 when he announced that he had instituted the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly (to be celebrated July 25).

I then spoke of my own grandparents: on Mom’s side we are Swiss and German and on Dad’s side, Irish and Welsh.

I explained that my German-born grandfather (who died when I was 10), Grandpa Bromann, came to America at the age of 18 months with his parents and 3 older brothers (more would be born in America) on a steamship called the Vandalia, sailing from Hamburg, Germany on its maiden voyage of June 28, 1871. And I was speechless when I realized that was 150 YEARS AGO TODAY!

Grandpa married my grandmother Theresa and his brother Charles married one of her sisters, Dora! Seven Bromann siblings and seven Blattner siblings. Sounds like someone should maker a movie!

My main message was to children and grandchildren: All the tools exist today for the younger generations to make video and audio tapes, to create legacy books with photos, to do Facebook live posts to share with other family members…maybe even cousins in a distant land! Ask a million questions and record every answer, every smile, every memory! Above all, be close to your grandparents and thank them for being your grandparents!

POPE WELCOMES DELEGATION FROM ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

The Holy See and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople exchange regular annual visits and send delegations for the feast days of their respective patrons. The Vatican celebrates the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles and the Orthodox patriarchate marks the November 30 feast of St. Andrew, patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.   (photo Vatican media)

The Holy Father this morning greeted Metropolitan Emmanuel who led the delegation in the name of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and noted, “This year we will celebrate Saints Peter and Paul in a world still struggling to emerge from the dramatic crisis caused by the pandemic. This scourge has tested everyone and everything. Only one thing is more serious than this crisis, and that is the risk that we will squander it, and not learn the lesson it teaches.  It is a lesson in humility, showing us that it is not possible to live healthy lives in an unhealthy world, or to go on as we were, without recognizing what went wrong.”

Francis said that Christians too “are called to reflect seriously on whether we want to go back to doing what we did before, as if nothing happened, or instead to take up the challenge of this crisis.  Crisis, as the original meaning of the word shows, always implies a judgement, a distinction between good and bad. … The present crisis calls us to distinguish, discern and sift, in everything we do, between what is enduring and what is passing.”

“We believe, as the Apostle Paul teaches,” said the Pope, “that what endures forever is love, because, while everything else passes away, “love never ends,” a love “that is concrete, modelled on that of Jesus.”

“In the end, the Gospel promises abundant fruit not to those who acquire riches for themselves, or to those who seek their own advantage, but to those who generously share with others, sowing abundantly and freely in a humble spirit of service.”

Pope Francis explained that, “For us Christians on the path to full communion, taking seriously the current crisis means asking ourselves how we wish to move forward.

“Dear brothers,” Francis asked, “has not the time come for giving further impetus to our efforts, with the help of the Spirit, to break down ancient prejudices and definitively overcome harmful rivalries?  Without ignoring the differences that need to be resolved through charitable and truthful dialogue, could we not begin a new phase of relations between our Churches, marked by walking more closely together, by desiring to take real steps forward, by becoming more willing to be truly responsible for one another?”

The Holy Father concluded by asking Metropolitan Emmanuel to tell Patriarch Bartholomew, “I joyfully await his visit here in Rome next October, an occasion for giving thanks to God for the thirtieth anniversary of his election.  Through the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul, Princes of the Apostles, and of Saint Andrew, the First-Called, may Almighty God in his mercy bless us and draw us ever closer to his own unity.”

POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN

I know Blinken is not a head of State or head of government but could more have been said about his meeting with the Pope? Here’s the terse statement by the head of the press office, in answer to questions from journalists on this morning’s meeting between Pope Francis and U.S. secretary of State Antony Blinken:

“This morning’s audience with US Secretary of State Antony John Blinken took place in a cordial atmosphere. It lasted about 40 minutes and was an opportunity for the Pope to remember the journey he made in 2015 and to express his affection and attention to the people of the United States of America.” (vatican media)

Click here for the CNA story and photos of Blinken’s tour of the Sistine Chapel and his morning meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State: Pope Francis meets Secretary Antony Blinken at Vatican (catholicnewsagency.com)

A by-product of the visit were some traffic problems in and around the Vatican this morning (including just across from my apartment building) for some time, prior to and during Blinken’s arrival and departure, with numerous police motorcycles and escort cars as well as those of Blinken and his entourage.

IMITATING THE APOSTLES, SPREADING THE GOSPEL WITH COURAGE – PRIESTS ALLEGED TO HAVE ABUSED ALTAR BOYS TO STAND TRIAL – POPE FRANCIS WELCOMES PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW

IMITATING THE APOSTLES, SPREADING THE GOSPEL WITH COURAGE

Pope Francis this morning continued his weekly general audience series of catecheses on the Acts of the Apostles, telling the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, “we now reflect on how Saint Peter and the Apostles respond with courage to those who wanted to stop the spread of the Gospel.” He said that, “strengthened by the experience of Pentecost, the Apostles become the ‘megaphone’ of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming the saving word of God that cannot be silenced.” (photo Vatican media)

The Holy Father explained that, “in the midst of the Sanhedrin, which feels threatened by the Apostolic preaching, a different voice is heard. The highly regarded doctor of the Law, Gamaliel, demonstrates the ‘art of discernment’. Filled with prophetic wisdom, he invites the leaders of the people not to give in to haste, but to wait for developments over time. This kind of discernment is valuable for the Church because it invites us to be farsighted, to contemplate events and not to make hasty judgments.”

“Discernment,” emphasized the Pope, “is an art that does not provide standardized solutions. It is an exercise of spiritual intelligence carried out by the children of God who learn to see traces of the Father’s presence within history. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us acquire the habit of discernment in order to learn that both time and the faces of our brothers and sisters are messengers of the living God.”

At one point in his talk, the Pope recalled the 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians – Egyptian construction workers – who were martyred for their faith in 2015 on a beach in Libya at the hands of the so-called Islamic State. “Their last word was ‘Jesus, Jesus’. They did not deny their faith, because the Holy Spirit was with them. Modern martyrs,” he said.

After the various language greetings at the end of the audience, Francis remembered those affected by Alzheimer’s disease, urging prayers for them, especially with the approach of World Alzheimer’s Day on Saturday, September 21. The Pope noted that Alzheimer’s “is a disease that affects many men and women who often become victims of violence, maltreatment and abuse that trample their dignity. We pray for the conversion of hearts and for those affected by Alzheimer’s, their families and those who care for them with love,”

PRIESTS ALLEGED TO HAVE ABUSED ALTAR BOYS TO STAND TRIAL

Late yesterday afternoon the Vatican released the following communiqué: “The Promoter of Justice of the Vatican City Tribunal, following provisions of September 16 and 17, requested the indictments of, respectively Fr. Gabriele Martinelli on charges of sexual abuse that would have taken place in the Saint Pio X pre-seminary in years before 2012 , and Fr. Enrico Radice, rector of the pre-seminary at the time of the facts, on charges of aiding and abetting (the abuse).

“The investigations were started in November 2017 following news released by the press. Although the reported facts date back to years in which the law in force at the time prevented the trial in the absence of a complaint by the injured person to appear within a year of the disputed facts, the postponement was made possible by virtue of a special provision of the Holy Father of July 29 (2019), which removed the ban on proceeding.”

POPE FRANCIS WELCOMES PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW

(Tuesday, September 17, late afternoon) From Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni: “As scheduled, the Holy Father met Patriarch Bartholomew. The meeting took place in a fraternal atmosphere and was followed by lunch together with the respective delegations at Santa Marta residence. Before the meeting, at the invitation of Bishop Marcel Semeraro, Secretary of the Council of Cardinals, the Patriarch briefly greeted the Cardinals members of the Council and emphasized the value of synodality in the Church and assurances of his prayer.”

You will recall that, on the June 29th feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, Pope Francis gave the Orthodox delegation that was in Rome to attend the June 29 events honoring the Apostles, a reliquary containing 9 fragments of bones of St. Peter that had been found in the Vatican scavi leading to his tomb. The 9 fragments were chosen from among many fragments by Paul VI to be put in a container to rest of the chapel of the private apartments of the Pope in the Apostolic Palace.

The Vatican wrote at the time: “Of those bones now preserved in the necropolis under St. Peter, Paul VI had nine fragments handed over to keep them in the private chapel of the papal apartment, inside a bronze box bearing this inscription: “Ex ossibus quae in Arcibasilicae Vaticanae hypogeo invents Beati Petri Apostoli esse putantur “(From the bones found in the hypogeum of the Vatican Basilica, which are believed to be of Blessed Peter the Apostle).”

The Vatican note on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I’s visit to Francis never gave a reason for the visit but it can be presumed that it was to thank the Holy Father for his remarkable and historical gift.

UNDERSTANDING CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX RELATIONS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY

UNDERSTANDING CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX RELATIONS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY

What I want to offer today is a look at Catholic-Orthodox relations as both sides struggle for full Christian unity. How did that disunity come about?  On what points is there agreement? Disagreement?

Oceans of ink have been used over the centuries to write about Catholic-Orthodox relations since the East-West (Constantinople-Rome) schism of 1054, so it is not my intention to give a full, historical review here. I do hope, however, to help you understand some of the issues involved in this split.

In two parts, I will offer Pope Francis’ words during his trip to Istanbul in late November 2014, Pope Benedict’s words during his 2006 visit to Istanbul, some background research I did for Benedict’s visit and excerpts from a lengthy interview I had in 2006 in Istanbul (Phanar) with Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, spiritual leader of some 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians, and exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Excerpts from my interview with Archbishop Demetrios will appear here tomorrow (ecumenism in doses!).

POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis travelled to Istanbul from November 28 to 30, 2014 principally to participate in celebrations marking the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Holy See and the Patriarchate exchange regular annual visits and send delegations for the feast days of their respective patrons. The Vatican celebrates the June 29 feast of Sts.Peter and Paul, Apostles and the Orthodox patriarchate marks the November 30 feast of St. Andrew. Roman Catholics believe St. Peter was given the mandate by Christ to lead the church and was thus the first Pope. The Orthodox believe that mandate was given to Peter’s brother, Andrew.

St. George Church, where Patriarch Bartholomew I celebrated a Divine Liturgy in the presence of Pope Francis to mark the patronal feast day, is located in the Fanar neighborhood (also spelled Phanar, the more traditional spelling) of Istanbul. The name is the Turkish transliteration of the original Greek word meaning a lighting lantern, a streetlight, a lightpost with a lantern. The name is also linked to the classical phanárion and the modern fanári meaning “lantern.”

Rooms in Phanar residence of Ecumenical Patriarch

The Phanar neighborhood became home to many Greeks as well as to the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, 400 years after the Great Schism. Today a complex known as Phanar houses the offices of the patriarchate and the residence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Just as the term Vatican – Vatican City State – is used the describe the heart of the Catholic Church, the Holy See, Phanar is often shorthand for the Ecumenical Pariarchate.

Pope Francis, speaking Sunday, November 30 at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul, said, “the one thing that the Catholic Church desires and that I seek as Bishop of Rome…is communion with the Orthodox Churches.”

“By happy coincidence,” he said, “my visit falls a few days after the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of Unitatis Redintegratio, the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Christian Unity.  This is a fundamental document which opened new avenues for encounter between Catholics and their brothers and sisters of other Churches and ecclesial communities.

“In particular,” explained the Holy Father, “in that Decree the Catholic Church acknowledges that the Orthodox Churches “possess true sacraments, above all – by apostolic succession – the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy” (15).  The Decree goes on to state that in order to guard faithfully the fullness of the Christian tradition and to bring to fulfilment the reconciliation of Eastern and Western Christians, it is of the greatest importance  to preserve and support the rich patrimony of the Eastern Churches.  This regards not only their liturgical and spiritual traditions, but also their canonical disciplines, sanctioned as they are by the Fathers and by Councils, which regulate the lives of these Churches (cf. 15-16).

Pope Francis said at that time he believes “that it is important to reaffirm respect for this principle as an essential condition, accepted by both, for the restoration of full communion, which does not signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation.   Rather, it means welcoming all the gifts that God has given to each, thus demonstrating to the entire world the great mystery of salvation accomplished by Christ the Lord through the Holy Spirit.  I want to assure each one of you here that, to reach the desired goal of full unity, the Catholic Church does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared profession of faith.  Further, I would add that we are ready to seek together, in light of Scriptural teaching and the experience of the first millennium, the ways in which we can guarantee the needed unity of the Church in the present circumstances.  The one thing that the Catholic Church desires, and that I seek as Bishop of Rome, “the Church which presides in charity”, is communion with the Orthodox Churches.  Such communion will always be the fruit of that love which “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (cf. Rom 5:5), a fraternal love which expresses the spiritual and transcendent bond which unites us as disciples of the Lord.”

POPE BENEDICT XVI

Eight years earlier, Benedict XVI and Bartholomew I celebrated a Byzantine liturgy in the church of St. George in Istanbul on the November 30 feast of St. Andrew. In his talk that day, Pope Benedict said, “the divisions that exist among Christians are a scandal to the world and an obstacle to the proclamation of the Gospel.”

One of the principal reasons for the thousand-year old split between Catholics and Orthodox is the Petrine ministry – Petrine referring to St. Peter – and the Petrine ministry being the office of the Pope.

Benedict made reference to that as well in his talk. He said that Christ gave Peter and Andrew the task of being “fishers of men,” but entrusted that task to each in different ways. Peter, said the Pope, was called “the rock upon which the Church was to be built and entrusted him with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.” Peter traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch to Rome “so that in that city he might exercise a universal responsibility.”

“The issue of the universal service of Peter and his Successors,” said Benedict XVI, “has unfortunately given rise to our differences of opinion, which we hope to overcome.”

During that trip Pope Benedict showed concern not only for Christian unity but for the legal and juridical status of all minority religions in Turkey, including the Orthodox. He reiterated that concern two months later when, on January 19, 2007 he welcomed Turkey’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Muammer Dogan Akdurm. The Pope called on Turkey to give the Catholic Church legal status as a recognized religious institution: “While enjoying the religious freedom guaranteed to all believers by the Turkish Constitution,” he said, “the Catholic Church wishes to benefit from a recognized juridical statute, and to see the start of official dialogue between the episcopal conference and the State authorities in order to resolve any problems that may arise and to maintain good relations between both sides. I do not doubt that the government will do everything in its power to progress in this direction.”

Some historical background on the East-West split:

What has come to be known as the East-West Schism occurred in 1054 when Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Christian Churches, and Pope Leo IX, leader of the Western Church, excommunicated each other. The mutual excommunications were lifted only in 1965 when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, following an historic encounter in Jerusalem a year earlier, presided over simultaneous ceremonies that revoked the excommunication decrees.

Differences between the two Churches had been growing for years on issues such as papal primacy, liturgical matters and conflicting claims of jurisdiction. The split almost a millennium ago occurred along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographic lines and the two Churches have been seeking unity ever since.

The Petrine ministry – the primacy of the Pope – was specifically mentioned vis-a-vis the Orthodox Church in the document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled “Responses to Some Questions on Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church,” dated June 29, 2007. Pope Francis quoted this document – specifically the fourth question – in his talk during the Divine Liturgy. (This 1,200-word document, excluding footnotes, with five questions and five answers is eminently readable: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html)

THE ORTHODOX CHURCHES

Within the Orthodox Church there are 15 separate churches that are autocephalous, autonomous and hierarchical, distinct in terms of administration and local culture, but for the most part in communion with one another (Russian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox Church, etc). Each of these churches has its own leader, called either a primate or a patriarch, such as the Patriarch of Moscow, the one that interests us now for the papal encounter with Patriarch Kirill.

While there are over one billion Catholics in the world, there are only about 300 million Orthodox The Moscow Patriarchate oversees just over half, that is, about 160 million people.

Notwithstanding the very warm and personal relations between Ecumenical Patriarchs such as Bartholomew I and recent Popes, relations between Moscow and the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church, over the years have been fraught with difficulties, not the least of which is the patriarchate’s close ties with the Russian government. The Orthodox Church is viewed more than favorably by the government whereas Catholic priests are viewed suspiciously if they meet with Orthodox Christians, especially if such meetings seem like proseltyzing.

The Petrine ministry, as I said earlier, is another obstacle on the path to unity.

One of the greatest dreams of St. John Paul, the first Slavic Pope, was reconciliation with the Orthodox Church. Repeated attempts were made to set up meetings and establish a closer relationship but they were always ignored or rejected by Moscow.

I’d need to write almost the entire week to cover just the Moscow-Rome history but that is not my intention today.

If we look back at the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of communism, we realize that the stage was ripe for that to happen given the leaders at the time – Pope John Paul, Ronald Reagan, and Mikhail Gorbachov.

Perhaps this now a moment in history when two other leaders, spiritual leaders – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill – are also destined to make history. Actually, by the mere fact of meeting, they will make history.

Part II of my interview with Archbishop Demetrios will appear tomorrow in “Joan’s Rome.” This is the part where we talk specifically about the relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox. I will not present Part I of that conversation as it dealt specifically with problems the Orthodox encounter in Turkey (where the interview took place).