To promote Christian unity,
Catholics and Orthodox must hold firm to the faith handed down by the
apostles and witness together to the Gospel as the good news humanity is
seeking, Pope Benedict XVI told Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople.
"By generously offering their lives in sacrifice for the Lord and for
their brethren, the apostles proved the credibility of the good news
that they proclaimed to the ends of the known world," the pope said in a
written message delivered Nov. 30 to the patriarch in Istanbul.
The pope's message was carried to Patriarch Bartholomew by Cardinal Kurt
Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, who led a Vatican delegation to a celebration of the feast of St.
Andrew the Apostle, the patriarchate's patron saint.
The pope said marking an apostle's feast day should be a "strong
summons" to all Christians "to renew their fidelity to apostolic
teaching," a topic that has become increasingly important in ecumenical
dialogue as disagreements increase over what are essential points of
faith and what modern adaptations are permissible or even necessary.
In the modern world, the pope wrote, it is especially important for
Christians to work more closely in sharing the Gospel and in presenting
Christ "as the answer to the deepest questions and spiritual aspirations
of the men and women of our day."
While Cardinal Koch joined the ecumenical patriarch's celebration in
Istanbul, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state,
celebrated the feast with Catholics and Orthodox in the Orthodox
cathedral of Astana, Kazakhstan.
Cardinal Bertone gave the homily and then presented Kazakhstan's
Christian leaders -- Catholic Archbishop Tomasz Peta and Orthodox
Metropolitan Alexander -- with fragments of the relics of St. Andrew.
The cardinal said the church leaders had asked Pope Benedict for a part
of the relics, which are housed in Amalfi, Italy, to "underline our
common veneration of the apostles."
Cardinal Bertone was in Kazakhstan to represent the Vatican at a meeting
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
SIC: CNS/IN'L
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