Pope meets with head of Greece Church

Yahoo News ^ | December 14, 2006

[NYer]

Pope Benedict XVI met on Thursday with Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, for talks on relations between the two churches.

Christodoulos arrived late Wednesday for a four-day visit. It is his first visit to the Vatican since he attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005.

Relations between Orthodox and Catholic churches have improved significantly in recent years, although they remain divided by long-standing questions of doctrine.

Calls for greater dialogue were strengthened when Benedict visited Turkey from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 and met with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians.

In remarks Wednesday before his departure, Christodoulos referred to "the scandal of the division of Christians" and spoke of a continuing, 25-year "dialogue that has as its aim to break the ice between the churches."

Christodoulos set his visit in a broader perspective, expressing "the need for collaboration of religions, and not only between the Christian churches." World peace "is threatened by the fanaticism of certain persons, on which they put the label of religion," he said.

Archbishop Christodoulos' visit reciprocates John Paul's trip to Athens in 2001.

[NYer]

Pope Benedict XVI, right, welcomes Greece's Orthodox Church Archbishop Christodoulos prior to their meeting in the Pope's private study at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec.

Pope Benedict XVI, right, embraces Greece's Orthodox Church Archbishop Christodoulos prior to their meeting in the Pope's private study at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 14. 2006. Benedict XVI urged Archbishop Christodoulos to work together to fight growing secularism in Europe. The pope met Christodoulos at the Vatican in what was the archbishop's first visit since he attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005. (AP Photo/Danilo Schiavella, pool)

Pope Benedict XVI, right, and Greece's Orthodox Church Archbishop Christodoulos sign an agreement during their meeting in the Pope's private study at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 14. 2006. Benedict XVI urged Archbishop Christodoulos to work together to fight growing secularism in Europe.

[NYer]

Exchanging gifts.

Magnificent icons!

[trisham]

Wow. Amazing photos. This is good news-it's really happening.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The Holy Father knows that a divided Christianity is less able to withstand the secular pressures, the creeping materialism that assail Christianity today. Also, a united Christianity is better able to stop the spread of a violent, intolerant ideology that forces people to convert under penalty of death and kills people who convert out of the ideology.

[trisham]

Yes.

Christodoulos set his visit in a broader perspective, expressing "the need for collaboration of religions, and not only between the Christian churches." World peace "is threatened by the fanaticism of certain persons, on which they put the label of religion," he said.

[ArrogantBustard]

Now who could he possibly be talking about?

Hmmmm ... The world wonders.

[Kolokotronis]

Orthodox ping

[trisham]

Now who could he possibly be talking about?

************

:)

[ELS]

Regarding the two icons in the first photo of reply #2, were they both gifts to or from Benedict XVI or were they an exchange of gifts between Archbishop Christodoulos and Pope Benedict XVI (BXVI gave one to AC and AC gave one to BXVI)?

[tlRCta]

At the risk of looking quite foolish, who is depicted in that icon?

[Nihil Obstat]

at the risk of looking foolish, I say Peter.

[trisham]

Saint Nicholas.

[bornacatholic]

If you Greeks can talk the Pope into trading The Theotokos Icon for the Peter and Paul one - I fear for the future...

[Nihil Obstat]

thanks. I thought since he is wearing red it would be one of the martyrs.

[Agrarian]

In photo # 2, you can almost read BXVI's lips as they whisper, "Hey, I know that you are the *real* big kahuna in the Greek Orthodox world -- we need to do lunch..."

[Petrosius]

Peter, Paul and Mary; reunion; hmmm....

[trisham]

I saw her in a restaurant. She's one of the tallest women I've ever seen.

[bornacatholic]

Subtract 50 points IQ per person and add 50 pounds per person and paint THAT as an antiIcon and that could be hung in the anteroom of Hell :)

[Kolokotronis]

"In photo # 2, you can almost read BXVI's lips as they whisper, "Hey, I know that you are the *real* big kahuna in the Greek Orthodox world -- we need to do lunch..."

Shush! Black Bart's eyes and ears are everywhere!

[DocRock]

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