Bishop Kevin Farrell

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The Pope and the Patriarch: A Unique and Unprecedented Relationship

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Pope & Patriarch

Pope Francis’ visit to Turkey had political and spiritual dimensions, both of which are inextricably commingled. A unique and unprecedented relationship has developed between the Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the nominal leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The relationship is a culmination of a gradual thaw in the relations between the two churches that began with Pope Paul VI and then Patriarch Athenagoras.

From an ecumenical point of view, the political and cultural rupture from which emerged the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church was the primordial schism. There were of course earlier divisions, but none that so completely severed the Body of Christ. Because the Great Schism, as it came to be called, was more political and cultural than doctrinal, it differed substantially from the Protestant Reformation five centuries later, that was more doctrinal and less political and cultural.

Subsequent events deepened the wounds of division and yet the two Churches mirrored each other sacramentally and doctrinally — a reality that was recognized by the Second Vatican Council. The Orthodox presence in Turkey, once the heart of Byzantium, the great center of Orthodoxy, is now minuscule and truly a Holy Remnant.

Primarily the visit of the Holy Father to the Ecumenical Patriarch was to move our communities closer to restoring the full unity to which we are called by Jesus (John 17:21). There still remains reluctance and suspicion that must be overcome, but there exists an undeniable Apostolic ecclesial affinity between the Catholics and the Orthodox.

Pope Francis made his hope of reunion crystal clear when following a liturgical celebration at the Orthodox Church of St. George he said the “one thing that the Catholic Church desires and that I seek as Bishop of Rome…is communion with Orthodox Churches,” adding later in his remarks, “…the restoration of full communion…does not signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation. Rather, it means welcoming all the gifts that God has given to each, thus demonstrating to the entire world the great mystery of salvation accomplished by Christ the Lord through the Holy Spirit.”

Vatican Radio reported that the Holy Father and the Ecumenical Patriarch signed a Joint Declaration reaffirming their desire to overcome the obstacles dividing their two Churches. The two leaders also deplored the terrible situation facing Christians and all who are suffering in the Middle East and called for an appropriate response from the international community.

In that regard the Pope urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to use his influence to protect Christian and other minorities who are suffering oppression and even persecution in Middle Eastern countries and to follow through on promised restoration of properties and rights of Orthodox and other non-Muslim minorities in Turkey.

Interestingly President Erdoğan challenged the Holy Father to use his influence to address the increasing Islamaphobia in Europe and elsewhere that tends to label all Muslims as terrorists, a situation that unquestionably exists in some European countries and even in our own country. Papal concern for Muslim refugees has been evident from the beginning of his papacy and Muslims are certainly among the poor and the marginalized for whom the Pope seeks mercy and compassion.

Image Source: Flickr.com

Pope and Patriarch

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 Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
Media coverage of the recent visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land tended to play up the political aspects of the Papal Pilgrimage over the religious significance. The visit was made not for political purposes, but at the invitation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of some 300 million Orthodox Christians. Patriarch Bartholomew attended the installation of Pope Francis last year, becoming the first Ecumenical Patriarch to attend a Papal Inaugural Mass since the Great Schism in 1054.

On that occasion, the patriarch invited the pope to meet with him in Jerusalem in 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first steps toward reconciliation between the two churches. The initial step occurred when Pope Paul VI met with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem. During the recent Holy Land visit, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew met four times. This was the fourth official meeting of popes and patriarchs¬ – the first being the 1964 meeting by Pope Paul VI, the second was by Pope John Paul II in 1979 and the third was Pope Benedict’s meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew during his trip to Turkey in 2006. What made the event significant was that it was the result of the Patriarch’s initiative.

Patriarch Bartholomew is no stranger to the Catholic Church or to the United States. The patriarch did postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and later became a lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University. From 1973 until 1990 he served as Orthodox Metropolitan of Philadelphia.

When Pope Francis invited the presidents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to meet with him in Rome to pray for peace, he also invited Patriarch Bartholomew. The patriarch has proposed an ecumenical synod in 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed. Such a synod is not, in the words of a Vatican spokesman, a “fait accompli.” Nevertheless, it is a further sign that there exists not only a mutual respect, but also a growing friendship between the pope and the patriarch.

Does this mean that reunification of the Catholic and Orthodox churches is close? Not likely. There are many wounds that need healing. There are theological, structural and historical issues that need to be addressed and resolved before that occurs. It does mean, however, that important new steps toward an ultimate reunion have been taken.

Image Credit: Catholic News Service