Unity between the Churches is “a gift and the fruit of the Holy Spirit”, but at the same time “it requires constant effort, animated by willingness and an unshakable belief in the power of the Lord”.This was the main theme of Benedict XVI’s message to Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus.
In order to proclaim the Christian faith, the Pope underlined, “we are in need of a new and common language, a spiritual language capable of faithfully transmitting Christ’s truth, thus helping us to re-build, in truth and charity, the communion between all of the members of the one body of Christ”.
This necessity, “of which we are all aware”, he added, “propels us onwards in our journey of theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church without loosing heart; it guides us to use valid and stable instruments in our search for communion, making sure that it is neither discontinuous nor occasional in the life and mission of our Churches”.
For his part, Chrysostomos II recalled the problems facing the European continent, which is affected by the lack of unity between Christians: “Europe, the cradle of civilization and the common home of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches – is disorientated and in crises, with the advent of atheism, secularization, decadence and doubts”.
As a result, modern man has “the Gospel values”, but “refuses the fundamental importance of Europe’s Christian roots; time has come for the Church and a new evangelization, it is time for the mission ad intra!” This is why the archbishop of Cyprus appealed for the unity of the Churches, without which “the many isolated efforts by the different Christian Churches and Confessions will have few positive effects, they are in short condemned to failure”.
The Archbishop of Cyprus then invited the Pope “who comes from a brother nation, traumatized by separation like our own, but then reunited, thank God”, to listen and make known the island nations’ torment, where “human rights are trampled on, monuments destroyed, and works of our spiritual heritage dismantled to become objects of international commercial trade and where the division of Europe’s last capital seems written in eternity”.
The joint declaration also spoke of the situation of "division and tension” which has separated the Cyprus for over 30 years. Moreover there was a brief mention of the situation in the Middle East, “where the war and unrest between the peoples risk spreading with disastrous consequences. We have invoked peace “from on high”.
Our Churches aim to carry out the role of peace makers, to promote justice and solidarity and fraternal relations between all Christians and a loyal dialogue between the different religions present in the area”.
In conclusion, Chrysostomos II invited Benedict XVI “to visit his humble home for the first time, to be its honoured guest, and to bless it!
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