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Vatican City, Jun 28, 2016 / 11:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic and Orthodox Churches find unity in God's mercy and in the responsibility to spread the Gospel, Pope Francis said Tuesday to a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.“Acknowledging that the experience of God's mercy is the bond uniting us means that we must increasingly make mercy the criterion and measure of our relationship,” the pontiff said during the June 28 audience at the Vatican.“If, as Catholics and Orthodox, we wish to proclaim together the marvels of God’s mercy to the whole world, we cannot continue to harbor sentiments and attitudes of rivalry, mistrust and rancor.”“For divine mercy frees us of the burden of past conflicts and lets us be open to the future to which the Spirit is guiding us.”Francis received the delegates of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, during their visit to Rome for the celebration of the June 2...
Vatican City, Jun 28, 2016 / 11:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic and Orthodox Churches find unity in God's mercy and in the responsibility to spread the Gospel, Pope Francis said Tuesday to a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
“Acknowledging that the experience of God's mercy is the bond uniting us means that we must increasingly make mercy the criterion and measure of our relationship,” the pontiff said during the June 28 audience at the Vatican.
“If, as Catholics and Orthodox, we wish to proclaim together the marvels of God’s mercy to the whole world, we cannot continue to harbor sentiments and attitudes of rivalry, mistrust and rancor.”
“For divine mercy frees us of the burden of past conflicts and lets us be open to the future to which the Spirit is guiding us.”
Francis received the delegates of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, during their visit to Rome for the celebration of the June 29 solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. The two Apostles were martyred in the city during the 1st century, and are the principal patrons of the Church of Rome. It is a tradition for the Orthodox patriarch to send a delegation to the Vatican at the end of June for the occasion of the solemnity.
In his June 28 discourse to the delegation, Francis observed how this year's audience takes place in the context of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
“I desired to proclaim the Jubilee as a favorable time for contemplating the mystery of the Father’s infinite love revealed in Christ, and for strengthening and rendering more effective our witness to this mystery,” he said.
Referring to Wednesday's feast, St. Peter and St. Paul had experienced both sin and “the power of God's mercy,” and thus became witnesses of the Gospel, the Pope said.
“As a result of this experience, Peter, who had denied his Master, and Paul, who persecuted the nascent Church, became tireless evangelizers and fearless witnesses to the salvation offered by God in Christ to every man and woman.”
Reflecting on the example of saints Peter and Paul, the Pope said “the Church, made up of sinners redeemed through Baptism, has continued in every age to proclaim that same message of divine mercy.”
Wednesday's solemnity calls to mind “the experience of forgiveness and grace uniting all those who believe in Christ,” Francis said.
Although there are “many differences” in liturgical and ecclesiastical spheres between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople, there is a shared experience of God's love and the call to witness to the Gospel, he added.
“Beyond the concrete shapes that our Churches have taken on over time, there has always been the same experience of God’s infinite love for our smallness and frailty, and the same calling to bear witness to this love before the world.”
Pope Francis went on to laud the theological dialogue which has contributed to helping recover their unity before the Great Schism of A.D. 1054.
Addressing Metropolitan Methodius, who heads the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston and led Tuesday's delegation, the Pope expressed his appreciation for his work as co-president of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation.
Instituted in 1965, “this Consultation has proposed significant reflections on central theological issues for our Churches, thus fostering the development of excellent relations between Catholics and Orthodox on that continent,” he said.
The pontiff also looked ahead to September's Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. “The task of this Commission is indeed precious; let us pray the Lord for the fruitfulness of its work.”
Francis went on to recall meeting Bartholomew I and Athens archbishop Beatitude Ieronymos II during his April visit to Lesbos, where they met with some of the thousands of migrants and refugees who had landed on island.
“Seeing the despair on the faces of men, women and children uncertain of their future, listening helplessly as they related their experiences, and praying on the shore of the sea that has claimed the lives of so many innocent persons, was a tremendously moving experience,” he said.
“It made clear how much still needs to be done to ensure dignity and justice for so many of our brothers and sisters.”
The Pope said it was a “great consolation” to share the “sad experience” with the patriarch and archbishop.
“Led by the Holy Spirit, we are coming to realize ever more clearly that we, Catholics and Orthodox, have a shared responsibility towards those in need, based on our obedience to the one Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“Taking up this task together is a duty linked to the very credibility of our Christian identity. Consequently, I encourage every form of cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox in concrete undertakings in service to suffering humanity.”
Acknowledging the Pan-Orthodox Council which recently concluded at Crete, Francis concluded: “May the Holy Spirit bring forth from this event abundant fruits for the good of the Church.”
In a letter addressed to Pope Francis to mark the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Patriarch Bartholomew lauded the efforts which have been made toward unity between the Churches.
“Our endeavors are nurtured by this endless source for the advancement of the journey toward the desired unity of our Churches,” he writes in the letter.
“The dialogue that continues between the Orthodox Church and the most holy Church of Rome is a domain that produces theological knowledge, ecumenical experience and mutual enrichment.”
The ecumenical patriarch also addressed the role of the Church in honoring “honors humankind created in the image and likeness of God.”
“This is why the word of the Church is and shall remain to the ages an intervention for the sake of humanity and its divinely-granted freedom.”
“Life in the Church incorporates, along with the Holy Eucharist, the splendid worship and life of prayer, the ascetic and internal struggle against the passions, as well as the resistance against social evil and the struggle for the prevailing of justice and peace.”
Bartholomew also addressed the unified commitment in addressing the challenges of today, citing for instance the ongoing refugee crisis.
“We are convinced that our common efforts and initiatives with regard to the global challenges of our time will continue because they constitute a good witness for the Church of Christ, serving humankind and the world,” he said.
At the same time, these efforts manifest and strengthen “our spiritual responsibility before the challenges of our time for the benefit of the Christian world and humanity as a whole.”
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Hackett, ReutersBy Simon CaldwellMANCHESTER, England (CNS) --Catholic bishops condemned a sharp rise in xenophobic and racist attacksfollowing Britain's vote to leave the European Union.Cardinal Vincent Nichols ofWestminster said the "upsurge of racism, of hatred toward others issomething we must not tolerate.""We have to say this issimply not acceptable in a humane society, and it should never be provoked orpromoted," he said.The June 28 statement fromCardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales,came a day after the National Police Chiefs' Council revealed that of 85complaints of hate crime were received between June 23, the day of thereferendum on United Kingdom membership in the EU, and June 26.The figure represented a 57 percentincrease in such offenses in a similar period just a month earlier.Xenophobic incidents includedthe vandalism of the buildings of a Polish social and cultural association inLondon and the verbal abuse o...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Hackett, Reuters
By Simon Caldwell
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Catholic bishops condemned a sharp rise in xenophobic and racist attacks following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said the "upsurge of racism, of hatred toward others is something we must not tolerate."
"We have to say this is simply not acceptable in a humane society, and it should never be provoked or promoted," he said.
The June 28 statement from Cardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, came a day after the National Police Chiefs' Council revealed that of 85 complaints of hate crime were received between June 23, the day of the referendum on United Kingdom membership in the EU, and June 26.
The figure represented a 57 percent increase in such offenses in a similar period just a month earlier.
Xenophobic incidents included the vandalism of the buildings of a Polish social and cultural association in London and the verbal abuse of foreigners on a tram in Manchester, a film of which was sent to Channel 4 News June 28.
Far-right nationalists at a rally in Newcastle June 25 unfurled a banner that demanded: "Stop Immigration, Start Repatriation" and, on June 28, a German woman who has lived in Britain since the 1970s wept as she told LBC London radio that she was too scared to leave her house three days after dog excrement was thrown at her windows.
She said: "My neighbors told me that they don't want me living in this road and that they are not friends with foreigners."
"My friend ... has a grandson who is 7 and who was beaten up because he has a foreign grandmother," she added.
Britain has been a primary destination for many citizens of poorer EU countries, with annual net migration reaching 330,000 people a year. Many of the migrants to the U.K. are Catholics from Central Europe, Asia and Africa.
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth told CNS in a June 28 telephone interview that, in his diocese, there were "huge numbers of immigrants from Poland, Kerala (India), the Philippines and Nigeria."
"I am extremely sad to think of violence against foreign people who are living here," he said. "There is no justification whatsoever for that.
"Many of these immigrants are already beloved members of our communities. They have contributed to local life and organizations," he said.
"Britain has always, through the centuries, been a country which has assimilated people from abroad, and they have taken on our values, and also they have made us proud because they have made a great success of it," Bishop Egan said.
"Both materially and spiritually, the vast majority of people who are working here and in our diocese are making a wonderful contribution," he added. "To think of violence against them is self-destructive. It is self-harm. We are harming ourselves as much as we are inflicting division and suffering on others."
Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton, the diocese based in Bristol, also issued a statement telling Catholics that it was important "to work for the common good and not create barriers of division and prejudice."
"We should have a profound respect for one another, and this should be reflected in the way we speak and behave," said the statement posted on the diocesan website June 27.
"We need to keep in mind the needs of all citizens, particularly those who may feel marginalized at this present moment, and continue to be a tolerant society, free of racial and religious prejudice," he said.
Concerns over the phenomenon of mass migration, and the apparent inability of the U.K. to control its borders, had helped to fuel efforts to take Britain out of the EU in a referendum won by the "Leave" campaigners, with the public voting 52-48 percent to withdraw from the bloc.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had fought for the U.K. to remain inside the EU, announced his resignation June 24.
In the weeks before the referendum, national newspapers such as the Mail on Sunday had exposed how far-right nationalists, including neo-Nazis, had been actively campaigning on the Leave side.
Witold Sobkow, Poland's ambassador to the U.K., expressed shock at the surge in xenophobic abuse.
Cameron told the House of Commons June 27 that such crimes must be stamped out. "We will not stand for hate crime or these kinds of attacks," he said.
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