Your All Holiness, beloved brother in Christ,

Allow me to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude for your warm welcome and your kind words of greeting. I likewise thank the members of the Holy Synod, together with the clergy and faithful, with whom we are sharing this evening prayer.

Upon entering this Church, I experienced great emotion, for I am mindful that I am following in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. I am also aware that Your All Holiness had the opportunity to meet my venerable predecessors personally, and to develop a sincere and fraternal friendship with them based on shared faith and a common vision of many of the main challenges facing the Church and the world. I am certain that our own encounter will also help to strengthen the bonds of our friendship, which already began to deepen when we first met at the start of my ministry as Bishop of Rome, especially during the solemn celebration of the Holy Eucharist, at which Your All Holiness was kind enough to be present.

Yesterday, and again this morning, we experienced extraordinary moments of grace as we commemorated, together with our brothers and sisters in faith, the 1700^th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. By remembering that highly significant event, and inspired by the prayer of Jesus that all his disciples may be one (cf. Jn 17:21), we are encouraged in our commitment to seek the restoration of full communion among all Christians, a task that we undertake with God’s help. Compelled by this desire for unity, we also prepare to celebrate the memory of the Apostle Andrew, patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In this evening’s prayer, the deacon addressed to God the petition “for the stability of the Holy Churches and for the unity of all.” This same petition will also be repeated in tomorrow’s Divine Liturgy. May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and indeed fulfil that prayer.

Thanking you once again for your fraternal welcome, I would like to extend to Your All Holiness and to all those present my most fervent good wishes as you celebrate the feast of your patron saint.