Phanar hopes to restore communion with the "sister Roman Church"

The delegation of the Constantinople Patriarch at the meeting with Pope Francis. Photo: ecupatria.org

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, in his message to Pope Francis, said that “the restoration of (Eucharistic – Ed.) of communion between our Churches remains our sincere hope, the main object of our prayers and the goal of the dialogue of truth established between our Churches,” reports the website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Archbishop Job (Getcha)of Telmessos who heads the delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which arrived in Rome to celebrate the Thronal Feast of the Roman Church, read a letter from Patriarch Bartholomew addressed to Pope Francis.

The document, in particular, says that “unfortunately, due to various difficulties of our common history, the light of today’s synaxisis darkened by the fact that our sister Churches cannot yet share in the common cup of the Eucharistic synaxis”.

Nevertheless, the Ecumenical Patriarch says, “the restoration of communion between our Churches remains our sincere hope, the main object of our prayers and the goal of the dialogue of truth established between our Churches”.

The patriarch also noted that “common participation in the Eucharistic synaxis presupposes that we are progressing together on the same path. In fact, walking together (synodos) is another image of the Church, or rather, another definition of the Church. For this reason, synodality derives its origin from the very depths of the mystery of the Church”.

However, Patriarch Bartholomew says, “as the Ravenna document of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue underscored, synodality is mutually interdependent on primacy. This means that synodality must be considered in the context of primacy, just as primacy must be considered in the context of synodality”.

He stressed that “in times of trouble in the world and within our respective Churches, reflecting on primacy and synodality is extremely important not only for restoring communion between our sister Churches but also for the stability of our respective Churches”.

Patriarch Bartholomew assured Pope Francis that he “reiterate our commitment for our common advancement on ‘the coming together’ of our Churches.”
He also expressed the hope that the "internal problems" within the Roman Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople "may neither harm nor stop this blessed goal".

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Pope of Rome told representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that the goal of the dialogue with the Orthodox is the fulness of communion.

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