Pope Benedict XVI - Saturday June 29, 2008
Posted on 06/30/2008 1:53:05 PM PDT by NYer
.- Patriarch Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, arrived in Rome on Saturday to open the celebration of the Pauline Year with Pope Benedict.
At the reception ceremony for Bartholomew I, the Pope told the patriarch that he was happy to learn that he had also called a Pauline Year to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of the Apostle of the Gentiles.
"This happy coincidence", Benedict said, "highlights the roots of our shared Christian vocation and the significant harmony of feelings and of pastoral commitment we are experiencing. For this I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who guides our path to unity with the strength of His Spirit.”
With the world experiencing tumult in many places, the Holy Father pointed to St. Paul’s message to the early Christian community in Corinth. “St. Paul, reminds us that full communion between all Christians has its foundation in 'one Lord, one faith, one Baptism'. ... To the Christians of Corinth, among whom discord had arisen, St. Paul did not hesitate to make a strong call for them all to remain in agreement, for there to be no divisions among them, and for them to unite in the same mind and purpose."
The persistent divisions and conflicts of today’s world, the Pope said, lead men and women to feel a “growing need for certainty and peace. However, at the same time, they remain lost, as if ensnared by a certain form of hedonist and relativist culture which throws doubt upon the very existence of truth.”
Into the midst of this culture, the Holy Father instructed, “The Apostle's guidance…is extremely helpful in encouraging efforts aimed at seeking full unity among Christians, which is so necessary in order to offer humankind of the third millennium an ever more resplendent witness of Christ, Way, Truth and Life. Only in Christ and in His Gospel can humanity find the answer to its deepest hopes."
Pope Benedict closed his greetings to the patriarch by praying that the Pauline Year "help Christian people to renew their ecumenical commitment, and may there be an intensification of joint efforts on the journey to the full communion of all Christ's disciples.”
I got to see a lot of the papal mass last night. Pope handing out the pallia. Patriarch Bartholomew was present. It was very nice to see the pope and patriarch processing out of the church side by side. Ooh, communicants receiving from pope on knees. All so lovely and all so meaningful. Everything seems to be moving in the proper direction these days.
Sniff... beautiful.
This is no coincidence. The Holy Father may be 81 but he recognizes that even his days are numbered. I recall the comments from the host of a local radio show, following the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. He called him an 'interim' pope. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Pope Benedict XVI is in excellent health and committed his pontificacy to the "authentic restoration of Vatican Council II". That is what you and I are witnessing. Meanwhile, he is selectively choosing the future members of the College of Cardinals who will one day vote in his successor. His most recent pick is none other than Archbishop Burke from St. Louis, a canon lawyer who has called the political sheep to task and excommunicated the silly women who decided to be ordained as priests. Over the next few years, watch the pope carefully as he hand selects the new members of the College. Meanwhile, the 'progressivist' bishops who are out of step with the Magisterium, are rapidly dissolving into the dustbin of history.
There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Holy Spirit drives the Catholic Church through its chief shepherd, Pope Benedict XVI.
While I doubt we may ever be fully reunited with the Orthodox Church, seeing this just warms my heart.
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