Reflection: Pope and Patriarch - The Ecumenism of Suffering!

Christ Pantocrator at Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The meeting between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday May 25th was yet another milestone on the way towards full Eucharistic unity between Catholics and Orthodox. Pope Francis highlighted that ecumenism especially in the Middle East today was a way of suffering and blood, pointing out that when Christians are persecuted or killed, nobody asks them whether they are Catholic or Orthodox.

As they met to pray in that ancient church complex where Christ was crucified and laid to rest in the garden tomb, both church leaders looked forward in hope.

Pope Francis commented: "Every time we put behind us longstanding prejudices and find the courage to build new fraternal relationships, we confess that Christ is truly risen!’. Patriarch Bartholomew drew attention to a wider vision inspired by the place of the tomb of Christ: ‘history cannot be programmed; that the ultimate word in history does not belong to man, but to God. In vain did guards of the secular power watch over this tomb. In vain did they place a very large stone against the door of the tomb, so that none could roll it away."

In the Common Declaration Patriarch and Pope - ’Andrew’ and ‘Peter’ confirmed their brothers and sisters in the faith we hold: 'We confirm our commitment to continue walking together toward the unity for which Christ our Lord prayed to the Father so ‘that all may be one’ (Jn 17: 21).

The Declaration itself commits both Churches to several key initiatives:

1. Hope for unity through encounter and true dialogue.

2.The duty of Christians to common witness and efforts in the service of humanity especially with regards to the dignity of the human person.

3.The promotion of peace and the common good so that we build together a just and humane society in which nobody feels excluded or marginalized.

4.Respect and care for creation particularly the protection of the natural environment witnessed by the Churches individual and common action such as tackling waste etc.

5. Defence of religious liberty and freedom, in particular the situation of Oriental, Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the Middle East and a commitment to dialogue between other faiths.

This Declaration sets the course once more ecumenical activity in a number of areas, it places the Church of Christ at the heart of the world’s life in dialogue and activity, in mission and prayer. As a Greek-Catholic, it is heartening because it once again reminds the world that the Church of Christ cannot fully live unless she ‘breathes with both lungs’, as that famous phrase of the Melkite Patriarch Maximos IV puts it! In the West we have many Eastern Churches including those from the MIddle East. Time to really get to know them!

Christ is Risen: He is Risen indeed !!

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain.