Patriarch Athenagoras, published after their meeting of 6 January 1964). Our   
   meeting, another encounter of the Bishops of the Churches of Rome and   
   Constantinople founded respectively by the two Brothers the Apostles Peter and   
   Andrew, is a source of profound spiritual joy for us. It presents a   
   providential occasion to reflect on the depth and the authenticity of our   
   existing bonds, themselves the fruit of a grace-filled journey on which the   
   Lord has guided us since that blessed day of fifty years ago.   
    2. Our fraternal encounter today is a new and necessary step on the journey   
   towards the unity to which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of communion   
   in legitimate diversity. We call to mind with profound gratitude the steps   
   that the Lord has already enabled us to undertake. The embrace exchanged   
   between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras here in Jerusalem, after many   
   centuries of silence, paved the way for a momentous gesture, the removal from   
   the memory and from the midst of the Church of the acts of mutual   
   excommunication in 1054. This was followed by an exchange of visits between   
   the respective Sees of Rome and Constantinople, by regular correspondence and,   
   later, by the decision announced by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Dimitrios,   
   of blessed memory both, to initiate a theological dialogue of truth between   
   Catholics and Orthodox. Over these years, God, the source of all peace and   
   love, has taught us to regard one another as members of the same Christian   
   family, under one Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to love one another, so   
   that we may confess our faith in the same Gospel of Christ, as received by the   
   Apostles and expressed and transmitted to us by the Ecumenical Councils and   
   the Church Fathers. While fully aware of not having reached the goal of full   
   communion, today we confirm our commitment to continue walking together   
   towards the unity for which Christ our Lord prayed to the Father so 'that all   
   may be one'.   
    3. Well aware that unity is manifested in love of God and love of neighbour,   
   we look forward in eager anticipation to the day in which we will finally   
   partake together in the Eucharistic banquet. As Christians, we are called to   
   prepare to receive this gift of Eucharistic communion, according to the   
   teaching of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, through the confession of the one faith,   
   persevering prayer, inner conversion, renewal of life and fraternal dialogue.   
   By achieving this hoped for goal, we will manifest to the world the love of   
   God by which we are recognized as true disciples of Jesus Christ.   
    4. To this end, the theological dialogue undertaken by the Joint   
   International Commission offers a fundamental contribution to the search for   
   full communion among Catholics and Orthodox. Throughout the subsequent times   
   of Popes John Paul II and Benedict the XVI, and Patriarch Dimitrios, the   
   progress of our theological encounters has been substantial. Today we express   
   heartfelt appreciation for the achievements to date, as well as for the   
   current endeavours. This is no mere theoretical exercise, but an exercise in   
   truth and love that demands an ever deeper knowledge of each other's   
   traditions in order to understand them and to learn from them. Thus we affirm   
   once again that the theological dialogue does not seek a theological lowest   
   common denominator on which to reach a compromise, but is rather about   
   deepening one's grasp of the whole truth that Christ has given to his Church,   
   a truth that we never cease to understand better as we follow the Holy   
   Spirit's promptings. Hence, we affirm together that our faithfulness to the   
   Lord demands fraternal encounter and true dialogue. Such a common pursuit does   
   not lead us away from the truth; rather, through an exchange of gifts, through   
   the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will lead us into all truth.   
    5. Yet even as we make this journey towards full communion we already have   
   the duty to offer common witness to the love of God for all people by working   
   together in the service of humanity, especially in defending the dignity of   
   the human person at every stage of life and the sanctity of family based on   
   marriage, in promoting peace and the common good, and in responding to the   
   suffering that continues to afflict our world. We acknowledge that hunger,   
   poverty, illiteracy, the inequitable distribution of resources must constantly   
   be addressed. It is our duty to seek to build together a just and humane   
   society in which no-one feels excluded or marginalised.   
    6. It is our profound conviction that the future of the human family depends   
   also on how we safeguard - both prudently and compassionately, with justice   
   and fairness - the gift of creation that our Creator has entrusted to us.   
   Therefore, we acknowledge in repentance the wrongful mistreatment of our   
   planet, which is tantamount to sin before the eyes of God. We reaffirm our   
   responsibility and obligation to foster a sense of humility and moderation so   
   that all may feel the need to respect creation and to safeguard it with care.   
   Together, we pledge our commitment to raising awareness about the stewardship   
   of creation; we appeal to all people of goodwill to consider ways of living   
   less wastefully and more frugally, manifesting less greed and more generosity   
   for the protection of God's world and the benefit of His people.   
    7. There is likewise an urgent need for effective and committed cooperation   
   of Christians in order to safeguard everywhere the right to express publicly   
   one's faith and to be treated fairly when promoting that which Christianity   
   continues to offer to contemporary society and culture. In this regard, we   
   invite all Christians to promote an authentic dialogue with Judaism, Islam and   
   other religious traditions. Indifference and mutual ignorance can only lead to   
   mistrust and unfortunately even conflict.   
    8. From this holy city of Jerusalem, we express our shared profound concern   
   for the situation of Christians in the Middle East and for their right to   
   remain full citizens of their homelands. In trust we turn to the almighty and   
   merciful God in a prayer for peace in the Holy Land and in the Middle East in   
   general. We especially pray for the Churches in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, which   
   have suffered most grievously due to recent events. We encourage all parties   
   regardless of their religious convictions to continue to work for   
   reconciliation and for the just recognition of peoples' rights. We are   
   persuaded that it is not arms, but dialogue, pardon and reconciliation that   
   are the only possible means to achieve peace.   
    9. In an historical context marked by violence, indifference and egoism, many   
   men and women today feel that they have lost their bearings. It is precisely   
   through our common witness to the good news of the Gospel that we may be able   
   to help the people of our time to rediscover the way that leads to truth,   
   justice and peace. United in our intentions, and recalling the example, fifty   
   years ago here in Jerusalem, of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, we   
   call upon all Christians, together with believers of every religious tradition   
   and all people of good will, to recognise the urgency of the hour that compels   
   us to seek the reconciliation and unity of the human family, while fully   
   respecting legitimate differences, for the good of all humanity and of future   
   generations.   
    10. In undertaking this shared pilgrimage to the site where our one same Lord   
   Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and rose again, we humbly commend to the   
   intercession of the Most Holy and Ever Virgin Mary our future steps on the   
   path towards the fullness of unity, entrusting to God's infinite love the   
   entire human family.   
    'May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord   
   look upon you kindly and give you peace!'".   
    Jerusalem, 25 May 2014.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ECUMENICAL ENCOUNTER IN THE HOLY SEPULCHRE: LET US NOT DEPRIVE THE WORLD OF   
   THE PROCLAMATION OF THE RESURRECTION   
    Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) - After signing the Joint Declaration, the   
   Holy Father and the Patriarch Bartholomew went to the Basilica of the Holy   
   Sepulchre to take part in an ecumenical celebration. The Pope entered the   
   Square by the Muristan arch, while the Patriarch entered by the gate of St.   
   Helena. The celebration continued with the participation of the Ordinaries of   
   the Holy Land, the Syrian archbishop, the Ethiopian archbishop, the Anglican   
   bishop, the Lutheran bishop, and others. It was also attended by the general   
   consuls of the five countries who guarantee the "Statu quo" of the Basilica   
   (France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece), and the other consuls of the   
   "Corpus separatum" of Jerusalem (Switzerland, the United States, Turkey, and   
   the United Kingdom).   
    The Holy Sepulchre is, according to tradition, the place where the burial,   
   crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place. After the repression   
   of the Jewish revolt in 135, Jerusalem underwent a radical change: the Jews,   
   Samaritans and Judeo-Christians were expelled and their return was prohibited.   
   Hadrian, with the intention of eliminating every trace of the religion that   
   had provoked two violent revolts, destroyed all places of worship, and the   
   Holy Sepulchre suffered the same fate: it was razed to the ground, its   
   cavities filled with earth, and a temple to the goddess Venus-Ishtar was built   
   over it. During the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the bishop of   
   Jerusalem, Macarius, invited the emperor Constantine to restore to light the   
   Holy Sepulchre, which, beneath the rubble, was perfectly preserved. The   
   Basilica of the Resurrection to be built there at the behest of the Empress   
   Helena, mother of Constantine, and went on to have a tumultuous history   
   throughout the centuries. The stone that sealed the tomb was broken during the   
   Persian invasion of 614 and it went on to suffer further damages until the   
   decision of the Crusaders in 1099 to enclose all the monuments to the death   
   and Resurrection of Christ in a single building, which remained almost   
   unaltered until the end of the nineteenth century. Further damages resulted   
   from the earthquake in 1927 and the first Arab-Israel war in 1948.   
    The Basilica continues to be regulated according to the "Statu quo", and it   
   is the property of three communities: the Latins (represented by the Friars   
   Minor), the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian Orthodox; the Coptic Orthodox,   
   Syrian Orthodox and the Ethiopian Orthodox may officiate in the Basilica. At   
   the entrance, in the atrium, there is the Stone of the Anointing, which   
   according to tradition indicates the place where Jesus, deposed from the   
   Cross, was anointed.   
    Pope Francis and the Patriarch Bartholomew were received by the three   
   superiors of the communities of the "Statu Quo" (Greek Orthodox, Franciscan   
   and Armenian Apostolic). The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos   
   III and the Custodian of Jerusalem, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M. Cap.,   
   and the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch, His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan   
   Manougian, venerated the Stone of the Anointing, followed by the Pope and the   
   Ecumenical Patriarch.   
    After the proclamation of the Gospel and the words of Patriarch Bartholomew,   
   the Holy Father gave an address in which he commented that the Basilica,   
   "which all Christians regard with the deepest veneration", his pilgrimage in   
   the company of my "beloved brother in Christ, His Holiness Bartholomew, now   
   reaches its culmination. We are making this pilgrimage in the footsteps of our   
   venerable predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, who, with   
   courage and docility to the Holy Spirit, made possible, fifty years ago, in   
   this holy city of Jerusalem, an historic meeting between the Bishop of Rome   
   and the Patriarch of Constantinople. I cordially greet all of you who are   
   present. In a special way I express my heartfelt gratitude to those who have   
   made this moment possible: His Beatitude Theophilos, who has welcomed us so   
   graciously, His Beatitude Nourhan Manougian and Father Pierbattista   
   Pizzaballa".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)