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LETTER
OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO HIS HOLINESS BARTHOLOMAIOS I
ARCHBISHOP
OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
ON THE OCCASION OF THE FEAST OF ST
ANDREW THE APOSTLE
To His Holiness Bartholomaios I
Archbishop of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch
It is with great joy that I write this letter to you, to be
delivered by my Venerable Brother Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on the occasion of the
Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brother of Saint Peter and Patron of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, in order to wish Your Holiness and the Members of the
Holy Synod, the clergy, the monks and all the faithful an abundance of heavenly
gifts and divine blessings.
On this joyful feast-day, in union with all my Catholic brothers and sisters, I
join you in giving thanks to God for the wonders he has worked, in his infinite
mercy, through the mission and martyrdom of Saint Andrew. By generously offering
their lives in sacrifice for the Lord and for their brethren, the Apostles
proved the credibility of the Good News that they proclaimed to the ends of the
known world. The Feast of the Apostle, which falls on this day in the liturgical
calendars of both East and West, issues a strong summons to all those who by
God’s grace and through the gift of Baptism have accepted that message of
salvation to renew their fidelity to the Apostolic teaching and to become
tireless heralds of faith in Christ through their words and the witness of their
lives.
In modern times, this summons is as urgent as ever and it applies to all
Christians. In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity, we are
called to proclaim with renewed conviction the truth of the Gospel and to
present the Risen Lord as the answer to the deepest questions and spiritual
aspirations of the men and women of our day.
If we are to succeed in this great task, we need to continue our progress along
the path towards full communion, demonstrating that we have already united our
efforts for a common witness to the Gospel before the people of our day. For
this reason I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Your Holiness and to
the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the generous hospitality offered last October on
the island of Rhodes to the Delegates of the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of
Europe who came together with representatives of the Orthodox Churches in Europe
for the Second Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme "Church-State Relations:
Theological and Historical Perspectives".
Your Holiness, I am following attentively your wise efforts for the good of
Orthodoxy and for the promotion of Christian values in many international
contexts. Assuring you of a remembrance in my prayers on this Feast of Saint
Andrew the Apostle, I renew my good wishes for peace, well-being and abundant
spiritual blessings to you and to all the faithful.
With sentiments of esteem and spiritual closeness, I gladly extend to you a
fraternal embrace in the name of our one Lord Jesus Christ.
From the Vatican, 30 November 2010
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
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