The Telegraph's story on the pope's upcoming visit to Turkey ended on this enticing note:
The Vatican is clear that the trip's main purpose is religious. The Pope will meet and pray with Patriarch Bartholomew I, one of the leaders of the Orthodox Church.
Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, a bishop who works on ecumenical issues, said "there are no doubts that news will be announced" about the relationship between Rome and the Orthodox faith during the trip.
What could the good monsignor be talking about?
PS to journalist Malcolm Moore: It is Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and he is ever so slightly more than one of the leaders of the Orthodox Church. He is the spiritual leader of the Orthdox world.
3 comments:
This from Zenith:
The Pope is going to Istanbul in response to an invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, presented at the start of his pontificate.
With this visit, Benedict XVI confirms that one of his priorities is the search for full Christian unity, as he stated on April 20, 2005, in his homily delivered in the Sistine Chapel, the day after his election.
On Wednesday, the Pontiff will take part in a meeting of prayer and dialogue with the Orthodox patriarch.
The highlight of the visit to the ecumenical patriarch will be Thursday, the liturgical memorial of the Apostle Andrew, brother of St. Peter.
Benedict XVI's participation in the Divine Liturgy will be followed by a joint brief prayer and the presentation of a stone tablet in memory of the last three Pontiffs who visited the patriarchate (John XXIII, as apostolic delegate, and Paul VI and John Paul II as popes).
The event will end with the reading and signing of a joint statement between Benedict XVI and Bartholomew I.
Curiously, Catholic World News doesn't see to be onto anything:
Following their public appearances, the Pope and the Orthodox leader will meet privately in the Patriarch's palace at Phanar. Then the Pope will travel to the residence of the pontifical mission in Istanbul, where he will spend his 2nd night in Turkey.
Spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church? Hmmmm...you may want to ask Moscow for confirmation.
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