Met. John seems to be extracting the Orthodox notion of the primacy of the Patriarch as first bishop among equals and the primacy of the head of the Council as his basis for understanding the primacy of the bishop of Rome. I think that this is a brilliant bridge of understanding between Rome and Orthodoxy. I am very interested to see what may come of it.
Blessings to Met. John!
The last time this article was posted I remarked that Met. John expressed exactly what I and other Orthodox here have been trying to say, alas with little success no doubt due in part to our own confusion, for about two years now. I believe that ven more now, the second time around. By the way, note his comments about +BXVI. As I have said, a number of Orthodox hierarchs around the world are very excited about this pope, perhaps even more so than Roman Catholics are.