Vatican, Jun. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI met with Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus at the Vatican on Saturday, June 16, and called for "steadfastness" in efforts to bridge the chasm between Catholicism and the Orthodox world.
The Holy Father thanked the Cypriot prelate for his visit, noting that Chrysostomos "has not come from Cyprus to Rome simply for an exchange of ecumenical courtesy." The Orthodox archbishop has openly expressed his hope to arrange a meeting between the leaders of Christianity's two largest bodies of worshippers: the Pope and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II. Pope Benedict praised Chrysostomos for his willingness to "build new bridges of reconciliation, collaboration and love." The advance of secularism makes it urgently necessary for Christians to "find a new language to proclaim the faith that unites us," the Pope said. That task underlines the importance of ecumenical talks, he said.
The Pope's goals were affirmed in a joint statement that he and Archbishop Chryostomos signed, proclaiming their "sincere and firm desire, in obedience to the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to intensify the search for full unity among all Christians." "At a time of growing secularization and relativism, Catholics and Orthodox in Europe are called to offer renewed witness on ethical values," the statement said. "It is necessary to revive the Christian roots of Europe, which have made its civilization great over the centuries, and to recognize that the Western and Eastern Christian tradition have, in this sense, a joint task to accomplish."