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Most Reverend Brother Hierarchs,

Monsignor Arnaud, Honorable representative of His Excellency Archbishop Marek Solczyński, Apostolic Nuncio in Türkiye, 

Esteemed members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Reverend Fathers,

Beloved children in the Lord,

Just one week ago we welcomed His Holiness Pope Leo XIV with great jubilation and honour for a series of historic events, including our joint pilgrimage to Nicaea, the signing of a Joint Declaration, and His Holiness’ presence here for the Feast of the Holy Apostle Andrew, the Heavenly Patron of the Throne of Constantinople. In the wake of these precious and moving events, we gather once more to commemorate and celebrate together the sixtieth anniversary of the mutual lifting of the anathemas of 1054 by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of blessed memory, on December 7^th, 1965.

In a time of accelerating polarization throughout the world, including the Christian oikoumene, this momentous and prophetic step towards unity is most worthy of our renewed and focused attention. In their Joint Declaration, the ever-memorable Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras made a decisive and open call for a new relationship between our sister Churches based not on “offensive words, … reproaches without foundation, and … reprehensible gestures,” but based instead on “cleansing of hearts, … regret for historical wrongs, and … an efficacious determination to arrive at a common understanding and expression of the faith of the Apostles and its demands.”[1] The mutual lifting of the anathemas of 1054 constitutes a tangible token and sign of this new beginning, and this event gave powerful momentum to the dialogue of love, to which we have added the necessary dialogue of truth through our Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue. However, while this event points prophetically to the much desired restoration of full communion between our Churches, it does not constitute its realization. The Joint Statement of 1965 recognizes that the lifting of the anathemas, important as it is, “is not sufficient to end both old and more recent differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.”[2]  It challenges us to continue to forge the path of unity armed with the tools of forgiveness, brotherly love, open and honest dialogue, and through following the Apostolic exhortation: “in honour preferring one another” (“τῇ τιμῇ ἀλλήλους προηγούμενοι,” Rom. 12:10). 

The late theologian and pioneer of the Joint International Commission of Theological Dialogue, our brother hierarch Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, reflected on the urgent need for this honoring and rediscovery of one another: “East, where is thy West?” he wrote, “West, where is thy East?”[3] Unfortunately, we witness in our day a growing indifference towards the urgency of our task. We are tempted towards self-isolation, as well as mutual suspicion and distrust. But we cannot let the forces of complacency or the lure of fanaticism undermine our pursuit of unity. We must recognize these dangers and work diligently to avoid them. As Metropolitan John wrote: “to discontinue and let brambles overtake the path would mean a return to an estranged past.”[4] Let us not allow such thorns to grow and choke our dialogue. If they do, not only will we no longer be able to bear fruit together in the future; we will also destroy the precious fruit that has already been nurtured and offered to us by our venerable predecessors. We must instead consciously embrace respect, honour, and above all love for one another, so that our mutual encounters, whether large or small, manifest or hidden, can each become a source for the exchange of spiritual gifts, a sharing of life, and thus a concrete further step towards unity.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We continue to draw inspiration and strength from the visitation of His Holiness Pope Leo one week ago, and we convey once again through you, Monsignor, our fervent greetings and prayers for His work and ministry. In our Joint Declaration, we commended today’s anniversary of the mutual lifting of the anathemas, and we underlined that the Holy Spirit “urges us to present to the world a renewed witness of peace, reconciliation and unity.” We also called “all the faithful of our Churches, and especially the clergy and theologians, to embrace joyously the fruits that have been achieved thus far, and to labor for their continued increase.” We re-iterate this call now, and we ask that by the prayers of the great Church Father St Ambrose of Milan, whose memory we celebrate today, the East shall find its West, and the West shall find its East, that we might abide and rejoice together in “the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:23), Christ our Lord. Amen.

1. Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of His Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, 4A, 5.

2. Ibid., 5.

3. Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, “Foreword” in J. Chryssavgis (ed.), Dialogue of Love: Breaking the Silence of Centuries, ix.

4. Ibid, x.