"This is especially true for us Christians, because for us the truth is the   
   person of Jesus Christ", observed the Pontiff. "The example of Saint Andrew,   
   who with another disciple accepted the invitation of the Divine Master, 'Come   
   and see', and 'stayed with him that day', shows us plainly that the Christian   
   life is a personal experience, a transforming encounter with the One who loves   
   us and who wants to save us. In addition, the Christian message is spread   
   thanks to men and women who are in love with Christ, and cannot help but pass   
   on the joy of being loved and saved. Here again, the example of the apostle   
   Andrew is instructive. After following Jesus to his home and spending time   
   with Him, Andrew 'first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have   
   found the Messiah" (meaning Christ). He brought him to Jesus'. It is clear,   
   therefore, that not even dialogue among Christians can prescind from this   
   logic of personal encounter".   
    Therefore, "it is not by chance that the path of reconciliation and peace   
   between Catholics and Orthodox was, in some way, ushered in by an encounter,   
   by an embrace between our venerable predecessors, Ecumenical Patriarch   
   Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI, which took place fifty years ago in Jerusalem.   
   Your Holiness and I wished to commemorate that moment when we met recently in   
   the same city where our Lord Jesus Christ died and rose.   
    "By happy coincidence, my visit falls a few days after the fiftieth   
   anniversary of the promulgation of Unitatis Redintegratio, the Second Vatican   
   Council's Decree on Christian Unity. This is a fundamental document which   
   opened new avenues for encounter between Catholics and their brothers and   
   sisters of other Churches and ecclesial communities. In particular, in that   
   Decree the Catholic Church acknowledges that the Orthodox Churches 'possess   
   true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the   
   Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy'. The   
   Decree goes on to state that in order to guard faithfully the fullness of the   
   Christian tradition and to bring to fulfilment the reconciliation of Eastern   
   and Western Christians, it is of the greatest importance to preserve and   
   support the rich patrimony of the Eastern Churches. This regards not only   
   their liturgical and spiritual traditions, but also their canonical   
   disciplines, sanctioned as they are by the Fathers and by Councils, which   
   regulate the lives of these Churches".   
    The Pope emphasised the importance of reaffirming respect for this principle   
   "as an essential condition, accepted by both, for the restoration of full   
   communion, which 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. I want to assure each   
   one of you here that, to reach the desired goal of full unity, the Catholic   
   Church does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared   
   profession of faith. Further, I would add that we are ready to seek together,   
   in light of Scriptural teaching and the experience of the first millennium,   
   the ways in which we can guarantee the needed unity of the Church in the   
   present circumstances. The one thing that the Catholic Church desires, and   
   that I seek as Bishop of Rome, 'the Church which presides in charity', is   
   communion with the Orthodox Churches. Such communion will always be the fruit   
   of that love which 'has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit   
   who has been given to us', a fraternal love which expresses the spiritual and   
   transcendent bond which unites us as disciples of the Lord".   
    In today's world, "voices are being raised which we cannot ignore and which   
   implore our Churches to live deeply our identity as disciples of the Lord   
   Jesus Christ. The first of these voices is that of the poor. In the world,   
   there are too many women and men who suffer from severe malnutrition, growing   
   unemployment, the rising numbers of unemployed youth, and from increasing   
   social exclusion. These can give rise to criminal activity and even the   
   recruitment of terrorists. We cannot remain indifferent before the cries of   
   our brothers and sisters. These ask of us not only material assistance -   
   needed in so many circumstances - but above all,our help to defend their   
   dignity as human persons, so that they can find the spiritual energy to become   
   once again protagonists in their own lives. They ask us to fight, in the light   
   of the Gospel, the structural causes of poverty: inequality, the shortage of   
   dignified work and housing, and the denial of their rights as members of   
   society and as workers. As Christians we are called together to eliminate that   
   globalisation of indifference which today seems to reign supreme, while   
   building a new civilisation of love and solidarity".   
    A second plea, he said, "comes from the victims of the conflicts in so many   
   parts of our world. We hear this resoundingly here, because some neighbouring   
   countries are scarred by an inhumane and brutal war. I think in a particular   
   way of the numerous victims of the grotesque and senseless attack which   
   recently killed and injured so many Muslims who were praying in a Mosque in   
   Kano, Nigeria. Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of   
   violence - or consenting to such acts - especially when directed against the   
   weakest and defenceless, is a profoundly grave sin against God, since it means   
   showing contempt for the image of God which is in man. The cry of the victims   
   of conflict urges us to move with haste along the path of reconciliation and   
   communion between Catholics and Orthodox. Indeed, how can we credibly proclaim   
   the Gospel of peace which comes from Christ, if there continues to be rivalry   
   and disagreement between us?"   
    A third cry is that of young people. "Today, tragically, there are many young   
   men and women who live without hope, overcome by mistrust and resignation.   
   Many of the young, influenced by the prevailing culture, seek happiness solely   
   in possessing material things and in satisfying their fleeting emotions. New   
   generations will never be able to acquire true wisdom and keep hope alive   
   unless we are able to esteem and transmit the true humanism which comes from   
   the Gospel and from the Church's age-old experience. It is precisely the young   
   who today implore us to make progress towards full communion. I think for   
   example of the many Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant youth who come together   
   at meetings organised by the Taize community. They do this not because they   
   ignore the differences which still separate us, but because they are able to   
   see beyond them; they are able to embrace what is essential and what already   
   unites us.   
    Pope Francis concluded by addressing Bartholomaios I: "We are already on the   
   way, on the path towards full communion and already we can experience eloquent   
   signs of an authentic, albeit incomplete union. This offers us reassurance and   
   encourages us to continue on this journey. We are certain that along this   
   journey we are helped by the intercession of the Apostle Andrew and his   
   brother Peter, held by tradition to be the founders of the Churches of   
   Constantinople and of Rome. We ask God for the great gift of full unity, and   
   the ability to accept it in our lives. Let us never forget to pray for one   
   another".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Joint declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomaios I: "We call on   
   all religious leaders to pursue and strengthen interreligious dialogue"   
    Vatican City, 30 November 2014 (VIS) - Following the Divine Liturgy, Pope   
   Francis and Patriarch Bartholomaios I appeared on the balcony of the   
   Ecumenical Patriarchate and blessed the faithful gathered in the street.   
   Francis imparted the blessing in Latin, and Bartholomaios I in Greek. They   
   subsequently ascended to the Throne Room where they signed and read the   
   following joint Declaration:   
    "We, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I,express our profound   
   gratitude to God for the gift of this new encounter enabling us,in the   
   presence of the members of the Holy Synod, the clergy and the faithful of the   
   Ecumenical Patriarchate, to celebrate together the feast of Saint Andrew, the   
   first-called and brother of the Apostle Peter. Our remembrance of the   
   Apostles, who proclaimed the good news of the Gospel to the world through   
   their preaching and their witness of martyrdom, strengthens in us the   
   aspiration to continue to walk together in order to overcome, in love and in   
   truth, the obstacles that divide us.   
    "On the occasion of our meeting in Jerusalem last May, in which we remembered   
   the historical embrace of our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and the   
   Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, we signed a joint declaration. Today on the   
   happy occasion of this further fraternal encounter, we wish to re-affirm   
   together our shared intentions and concerns.   
    "We express our sincere and firm resolution, in obedience to the will of our   
   Lord Jesus Christ, to intensify our efforts to promote the full unity of all   
   Christians, and above all between Catholics and Orthodox. As well, we intend   
   to support the theological dialogue promoted by the Joint International   
   Commission, instituted exactly thirty-five years ago by the Ecumenical   
   Patriarch Dimitrios and Pope John Paul II here at the Phanar, and which is   
   currently dealing with the most difficult questions that have marked the   
   history of our division and that require careful and detailed study. To this   
   end, we offer the assurance of our fervent prayer as Pastors of the Church,   
   asking our faithful to join us in praying 'that all may be one, that the world   
   may believe'.   
    "We express our common concern for the current situation in Iraq, Syria and   
   the whole Middle East. We are united in the desire for peace and stability and   
   in the will to promote the resolution of conflicts through dialogue and   
   reconciliation. While recognising the efforts already being made to offer   
   assistance to the region, at the same time, we call on all those who bear   
   responsibility for the destiny of peoples to deepen their commitment to   
   suffering communities, and to enable them, including the Christian ones, to   
   remain in their native land. We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East   
   without Christians, who have professed the name of Jesus there for two   
   thousand years. Many of our brothers and sisters are being persecuted and have   
   been forced violently from their homes. It even seems that the value of human   
   life has been lost, that the human person no longer matters and may be   
   sacrificed to other interests. And, tragically, all this is met by the   
   indifference of many. As Saint Paul reminds us, 'If one member suffers, all   
   suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together'. This is the   
   law of the Christian life, and in this sense we can say that there is also an   
   ecumenism of suffering. Just as the blood of the martyrs was a seed of   
   strength and fertility for the Church, so too the sharing of daily sufferings   
   can become an effective instrument of unity. The terrible situation of   
   Christians and all those who are suffering in the Middle East calls not only   
   for our constant prayer, but also for an appropriate response on the part of   
   the international community.   
    "The grave challenges facing the world in the present situation require the   
   solidarity of all people of good will, and so we also recognise the importance   
   of promoting a constructive dialogue with Islam based on mutual respect and   
   friendship. Inspired by common values and strengthened by genuine fraternal   
   sentiments, Muslims and Christians are called to work together for the sake of   
   justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person,   
   especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in peaceful   
   coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war. Moreover,   
   as Christian leaders, we call on all religious leaders to pursue and to   
   strengthen interreligious dialogue and to make every effort to build a culture   
   of peace and solidarity between persons and between peoples. We also remember   
   all the people who experience the sufferings of war. In particular, we pray   
   for peace in Ukraine, a country of ancient Christian tradition, while we call   
   upon all parties involved to pursue the path of dialogue and of respect for   
   international law in order to bring an end to the conflict and allow all   
   Ukrainians to live in harmony.   
    "Our thoughts turn to all the faithful of our Churches throughout the world,   
   whom we greet, entrusting them to Christ our Saviour, that they may be   
   untiring witnesses to the love of God. We raise our fervent prayer that the   
   Lord may grant the gift of peace in love and unity to the entire human family.   
    "'May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.   
   The Lord be with all of you'".   
    After the signing of the Declaration, the Pope, the Ecumenical Patriarch and   
   various members of the respective delegations lunched together on the third   
   floor of the Phanar.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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