EDUCATIONAL VISIT BY THE SCHOLARS OF THE THEOLOGICAL BOARDING SCHOOL OF THE APOSTOLIKI DIAKONIA OF THE CHURCH OF GREECE IN ROME AND THEIR MEETING WITH HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI OF ROME

(24- 28 February 2006)

In the framework of its cultural collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church, and since the Theological Boarding School of the Apostoliki Diakonia offers its hospitality every summer to about 30 members of the Roman Catholic Church from all over the world to attend lessons on the Greek language and to become familiarized with the Greek civilization and the Orthodox tradition, a respective educational visit to Rome was arranged.

The scholars visited the catacombs of Saint Priscilla, where they chanted the closing hymn of the Holy Martyrs and performed a memorial service in commemoration of the deceased Christians of the first Christian centuries, since that sacred place was also a cemetery; they also visited the basilica of Saint Peter and the Apostle Peter's grave, the basilica of the Apostle Paul outside the walls, where they paid their respects and chanted his closing hymn; they visited the Gregorian University, where they were informed by the Dean about the educational programs, and they also went to the Vatican museums.

On Sunday, the 26 th of February 2006, His Eminence the Bishop of Fanarion Agathangelos performed the Divine Service with the priests who had accompanied the mission, with the blessings of the Rev. Metropolitan of Italy Gennadios in the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Teron in Rome. During the divine service, the hymns were chanted by the students of the Theological Boarding School. Finally, they were received in a private audience by the Pope of Rome Benedict XVI in the Vatican, on Monday, the 27 th of February 2006.

His Eminence the Bishop of Fanarion Agathangelos, General Director of the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, in his address to the Pope of Rome Benedict XVI, mentioned the following:

« Your Holiness ,
On the walls of the catacombs in Rome, there sometimes appears a depiction of a woman in prayer, the so-called Beseecher (Orans). Her gaze is fixed on the heavens, her arms are outstretched, with her palms turned upwards. This is one of the oldest Christian icons . Who does it portray: the Virgin Mary, the Church, or a soul in prayer? Or perhaps all three? Regardless how it is interpreted, this icon reflects a basic Christian position: the position of invocation, of invitation, of anticipation of the Holy Spirit by the people of God.

We praise the most Holy God, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, Who configures the institution of the Church, Who has made us worthy on this day to assemble here with a common purpose, and be blessed with the spiritual joy of meeting Your Holiness, the Pope and Bishop of Rome; to be conjoined with our common roots; to pray at the graves of the Martyrs, to pay reverence at the graves of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to meet with brethren.

It began with the visit of your recently departed predecessor, Pope John-Paul II, when, in retracing the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, he had come to pay his respects -accompanied by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos- atop the "Areios Pagos", the high rock from where the Apostle had preached to the Athenians about the Crucified and Resurrected Christ.

This was followed by the exchange of staff members between the two Churches; the cultural collaboration with the Apostolic Vatican Library for the publication of the Menologion of the Emperor Vasilios II, and finally, an annual program of tuition of the Greek language and the familiarization with Greek civilization and Orthodox tradition, for 30 members of the Catholic Church, which is realized every summer on the initiative of the Apostoliki Diakonia, the Theological Boarding School, and with the blessing of His Beatitude the Archbishop Christodoulos. While enjoying a perfect cooperation with the Pontifical Council for the unity of Christians, we scheduled a second educational visit for the summer of the current year.

The Apostoliki Diakonia, which has been serving the Church for 70 years, is the official, missionary, publishing and catechist Organization of the Church of Greece. The post of the presently speaking General Director has been honored by personalities, academics, deans, amongst whom was my predecessor and currently Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios.

Today , we are visiting you together with staff members of the Apostoliki Diakonia Organization, such as father Dionysios Mandalos , Director of Services, the Archmandrite father Alexios Psoinos , Director of the Theological Boarding School, the priests and the students of the Boarding School which completes its 72 nd year this year and has hosted approximately 6000 scientists and staff of our Church - many of whom eventually became ecclesiastic personalities.

As a Bishop who is a novice in everything, I have never had the honor and the blessing to have met you personally. The first time that I heard of you, the Cardinal Joseph Ratziger at the time, the renowned theologian, the man who lived alone with God, the friend of Orthodoxy, was when I attended the seminars of the Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Champesy of Geneva, under the Metropolitan of Switzerland, Damascenos Papandreou.

Your recent election to the post of Primate of the Roman Catholic Church has cultivated in the conscience of all the Orthodox the hope and the expectation for a maturing of the Theological Dialogue which by the Grace of God has recommenced, as well as the predisposition in prayer to live the mystery of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, united.

Your Holiness,
In this third millennium that we, the Christians of the world, are living in, now tired of the violence and the wars, the injustice, the disputes and the quarrels, of the temptation of power, are urgently posing the question: "Why are we Christians divided?" Only Theology and love can overcome division . As long as we ensure that when we theologize, we theologize the Name of God and feel anguish because of the withdrawal, by transcending the oxidations of time, the psychoses of circumstances, and the conventionalities of history.

The Theological Dialogue has recommenced. This means the history of the Church and the world continues to be open in God's hands, and that Christ is standing at the doors of our Churches and is knocking on them, so that we will open them to Him.

In conclusion, as the representative of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos, I wish to convey His brotherly greeting and His heartfelt wishes, and to ask You to accept His personal letter, which He assigned me to deliver to You personally.

Before doing this, however, I would respectfully ask You to accept along with the wishes of His Beatitude, the wishes of all the associates of the Apostoliki Diakonia, the Fathers and the students of the Theological Boarding School, that God may grant You - through the embassies of the Most Holy Mother Theotokos, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and Hossios Benedictus - unfailing health, sorrowless days in your ministry as Primate, patience and spiritual valor, so that You might relay to all the world the word "regarding the hope within us".

Your Holiness,
Please permit me to close these humble thoughts, with an excerpt from the Apostolic Teachings:

.  It was wheat, sown over mountains and gorges .
. It was harvested, ground, kneaded, and it became bread.
. We blessed it, it was sanctified, and it became the Body of Christ .
. We too, o Lord, are scattered about.
. Gather us near You, Lord. Grind us. Make us Bread.. Make us all one inside Your Church, and sanctify us. Take us into Your Kingdom !
( Teachings of the Apostles, Chapter. 9, 4).

Your Holiness, We thank You . May Your years be many! AD MULTOS ANNOS!».

In his address, His Beatitude Mgr Christodoulos Archbishop of Athens and All Greece mentioned:

His Holiness,
Pope Benedict XVI,
Vatican City.

Your Holiness,

The presence of His Grace, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Agathangelos of Phanarion, together with thirty two of the theological students residing at the Students' Hostel of the Apostoliki Diakonia, to whom Your Holiness has not only offered hospitality, but whom You also have graciously agreed to receive in audience, affords me the opportunity, once again, to greet Your Holiness and communicate with You in the spirit of Christian love and to convey to You my sincerest sentiments of fraternal esteem and deep respect. I am certain that our students' audience with Your Holiness, who is not only the Bishop of Rome but also a distinguished and world-renowned scholar and theologian, will make a lasting impression upon them as students of theology and future clergymen.

As I have already mentioned in my letter of 17 January, we are most grateful to Your Holiness for Your support of the joint project of the publication of the Menologion of Emperor Basileios II (Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1613), and for the presence of distinguished Vatican dignitaries at its presentation to the Greek public. We also are deeply appreciative for the exchange Programme of clergy and theological students currently in progress, which, I am sure, will lead to a deeper knowledge and appreciation of one another's Church and will help to strengthen ties between their future leaders.

The election of Your Holiness as the new Leader of the Roman Catholic Church has filled us with great hopes that our mutual journey along the path of rapprochement and reunion of the Churches will not only continue, but will, through God's grace, also culminate in complete fruition.

Towards this end, we look not only to Your Holiness' deep theological erudition and the devout commitment to Ecclesiastical Tradition in conjunction with Your excellent knowledge of the Orthodox Church, Her doctrines and Traditions, but also to Your Holiness' ardent expressed desire to heal the wounds of the past and to bring about unity in Truth and Love.

As I had the opportunity to mention to His Eminence, Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, during his recent visit to our Church, at the head of a group of 150 Roman Catholic Clerics from his Archdiocese, the mutual exchange of visits between our two Churches has convinced us that there exists a common desire for unity among Christians. If we do not convince our people that it is our Lord's desire that "all may be one", then our mission in the world is incomplete. We pray that the theological Dialogue between our Churches which, after years of interruption, has once again begun, and the efforts that we have undertaken in this direction will be blessed by our Lord and will be fruitful. We are aware that the path ahead of us is not an easy one, but I believe that this opening up of one to another, will help us to arrive at a common position, a position that the Orthodox Church has repeatedly stated: namely, the common faith that we possessed and shared during the first eight Christian centuries. If we all had the courage to return to this common position, then automatically we would be one in the faith.

In this light, we are also encouraged by similar past statements made by Your Holiness, for example, in regard to the issue of primacy, : " Rome must not require more of a primacy doctrine from the East than was formulated and experienced in the first millennium. In the Phanar on 25 July 1976, when Patriarch Athenagoras addressed the visiting Pope as Peter's successor, the first in honour among us, and as presiding over charity, this great Church leader was expressing the essential content of the declaration of the primacy of the first millenium. And Rome cannot ask for more". (J. Ratzinger, "Die Okumenische Situation-Orthodoxie, Katholizismus und Reformation" in Theologische Prinzipienlehre: Bausteine zur Fundamentaltheologie, Munich, E. Wewel, 1982, p. 209.)

Until such time as the Theological Dialogue, the Dialogue of Truth, arrives at the unity that we all desire and that will be culminated in the sharing of the One Cup, let us promote the Dialogue of Love through the exchange of visits such as the present one, and through cooperation on matters of common concern, on matters where the common Tradition that we have inherited has not differentiated itself, thus providing us with a common platform.

In closing, allow me, Your Holiness, once again, to assure You of my heartfelt sentiments of sincere esteem and fraternal love in Christ.

+ C H R I S T O D O U L O S
ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS AND ALL GREECE

Athens, 17 February 2006

 

In his response, Pope Benedict XVI said the following:

«Your Eminence, Reverend Archmandrites, Fathers, Seminary students and all other participants of this "educational visit" to Rome,

In welcoming you all, with joy and gratitude, on the occasion of this initiative of your visit to Rome, I would like to invoke the exhortation of Saint Ignatius, the great Bishop of Antioch, to the Ephesians: "You should strive to congregate more frequently and to thank God and praise Him with glorification hymns. Because, when you congregate frequently, the powers of evil will be vanquished and his deadly work shall be destroyed by the concord of your faith."

For us Christians of the East and the West, at the beginning of the second millennium, it was the powers of evil that were also in action during the divisions, which still continue between us. However, during the last forty years, many consoling and hope-bearing signs contributed towards the appearance of a new dawn, of that day in which we shall be able to fully comprehend that, to be rooted and founded in the love of Christ, means that we should especially find a way of overcoming our divisions, in a personal and a community about-face, through the exercise of listening to the other, and through a common prayer for our unity.

Among the consoling signs of this compelling course, which we cannot renounce, I can joyously remember the recent and positive development of the relations between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church of Greece . After the historical meeting on the Areios Pagos in Athens between my beloved predecessor, the Pope John-Paul II and His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos, that was followed by various acts of collaboration and many initiatives were realized, in order that we might become better acquainted and encourage the instruction of the younger generations. The exchange of visits, the student scholarships, the collaboration in the publications sector, all proved to be effective ways in promoting the dialogue and in deepening the love between us - which is the perfecting of life, as Saint Ignatius continues to say- and, united with the faith, will succeed in prevailing over the dissents of this world.

I wish to thank the Apostoliki Diakonia from my heart, for this visit to Rome, for the educational plans it is developing with the Catholic Committee for the Educational Collaboration with Orthodox Churches, within the Framework of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians. I am certain that mutual love will successfully furnish our innovativeness and make us travel new paths. We need to face the challenges that threaten the faith, to cultivate the spiritual ground that nurtured Europe for centuries, to proclaim anew the Christian values, to promote peace and convergence even under the most difficult of circumstances, to delve deeper into those elements of the faith and ecclesiastic living that are capable of leading us to the end of the road towards full communion in love and truth, especially in our day, where the official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in its entirety is re-discovering its course, with renewed vitality.

Hope, faith and love move together in Christian life. How much truer and more effective would our witness be in today's world, if we had understood that the course towards unification demands from all of us a livelier faith, a more solid hope and a love that would truly comprise the profoundest inspiration that nurtures our mutual relations! However, hope is exercised in patience, in humility, in trusting Him Who guides us. The reaching of our aim towards the unity between the disciples of Christ -as much as it may seem distant in our eyes- does not hinder us from living in love between us, and at every level. There is no place or time where love, with our Master, Christ as its role model, is redundant. Love cannot but shorten the path to a complete communion.

I am entrusting you with the task of conveying my sentiments of sincere and brotherly love to His Beatitude the Archbishop Christodoulos. He was with us here in Rome, to pay his last respects to Pope John Paul II. The Lord will show us the manner and the time that we can renew our meeting, in a joyous atmosphere of a reunion between brothers.

May your visit have every success you have hoped for. My blessing accompanies you."

After the conclusion of this audience, the scholars chanted the Byzantine closing hymns of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and also of Saint Benedict; they offered the Pontiff as a souvenir of their visit a byzantine icon of Saint Benedict, and they were each given the opportunity to personally speak with Him.  

 

His Eminence the Bishop of Fanarion Agathangelos with Pope Benedict XVI

Conversation with one of the scholars

Scholars with Pope Benedict XVI

Photo of the scolars

The icon the scolars offer to Pope

L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO (28.02.2006)