At 10:30 this morning, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience His Holiness, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syro-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and of the East.
Following a private dialogue, the Patriarch introduced the Pope to the members of the delegation that accompanied him; then His Holiness, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II and Pope Francis spoke the words of their respective speeches.
Finally, in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, they shared a moment of prayer.
Your Holiness,
Your Beatitude,
Dear brothers,
It is a great joy to welcome you here, at the tomb of Saint Peter, beloved here in Rome as well as in Antioch. I most cordially welcome Your Holiness and the distinguished members of Your delegation. I thank you for your words of friendship and spiritual closeness, and I extend my greeting to the bishops, the clergy and to all the faithful of the Syro-Orthodox Church. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7).
Your Holiness' visit strengthens the ties of friendship and fraternity that unite our Churches, the See of Rome and the See of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, a master of unity among Christ's faithful, in his letter to the Magnesi, echoing the prayer spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper, exhorts us to be one in prayer, one in supplication, one in mind, one in hope and in love, to draw all people as to the one temple of God, united at the one altar which is the one Jesus Christ who proceeds from the one Father and returns united to him (7:1-2).
When Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob III and Pope Paul VI met here in Rome in 1971, they consciously began what might be referred to as a holy pilgrimage toward full communion between our Churches. Signing the Common Declaration on our common profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, true God and true man, they laid the necessary and dynamic foundation for this journey which we are currently travelling together in obedience to the prayer of the Lord for the unity of the disciples (cf Jn 17:21-23). Subsequently, meetings between Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas and Saint John Paul II, first in Rome and then in Damascus, signalled new progress in introducing concrete elements of pastoral collaboration for the good of the faithful.
How things have changed since those early meetings! His, Holiness, has been a Church of martyrs from the very beginning, and it still is today, in the Middle East, where she continues to suffer, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings of war, of violence and of persecution. So much suffering! So many innocent victims! Faced with all of this, it seems that the powerful of this world are incapable of finding solutions.
Your holiness, let us pray together for the victims of this brutal violence and of all situations of war which are present in the world. A special remembrance goes out to Metropolitan Mor Gregorios Ibrahim and to the Metropolitan of the Greek-Orthodox Church, Paul Yazigi, captured together more than two years ago. Let us also remember some priests and many people, from various groups, who have been deprived of their freedom. Let us together implore from the Lord, the grace to always be ready to forgive and to be agents of reconciliation and peace. This is the strength of the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and an instrument of edification for the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of peace and justice.
Your Holiness, Your Beatitude, dear brothers, at this moment of difficult trial and of suffering, let us strengthen once again the ties of friendship and fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Syro-Orthodox Church. Let us hasten our steps on this common journey, keeping our eyes fixed on the day when we will celebrate our belonging to one Church in Christ around the same altar of sacrifice and praise. We exchange the treasures of our traditions as spiritual gifts, for that which unites us is far greater than that which still divides us.
I make my own, the words of your beautiful Syriac prayer: Lord, through the intercession of your Mother and of all the saints, bless us and all our beloved dead. May the memory of the Virgin Mary be a blessing for us: may her prayers be a fortress for our souls. Apostles, martyrs, disciples and saints, pray for us, that the Lord may grant us his mercy. Amen.
Following a private dialogue, the Patriarch introduced the Pope to the members of the delegation that accompanied him; then His Holiness, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II and Pope Francis spoke the words of their respective speeches.
Finally, in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, they shared a moment of prayer.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with His Holiness, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II
Syro-Orthodox Pariarch of Antioch and of the East
Your Holiness,
Your Beatitude,
Dear brothers,
It is a great joy to welcome you here, at the tomb of Saint Peter, beloved here in Rome as well as in Antioch. I most cordially welcome Your Holiness and the distinguished members of Your delegation. I thank you for your words of friendship and spiritual closeness, and I extend my greeting to the bishops, the clergy and to all the faithful of the Syro-Orthodox Church. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7).
Your Holiness' visit strengthens the ties of friendship and fraternity that unite our Churches, the See of Rome and the See of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, a master of unity among Christ's faithful, in his letter to the Magnesi, echoing the prayer spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper, exhorts us to be one in prayer, one in supplication, one in mind, one in hope and in love, to draw all people as to the one temple of God, united at the one altar which is the one Jesus Christ who proceeds from the one Father and returns united to him (7:1-2).
When Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob III and Pope Paul VI met here in Rome in 1971, they consciously began what might be referred to as a holy pilgrimage toward full communion between our Churches. Signing the Common Declaration on our common profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, true God and true man, they laid the necessary and dynamic foundation for this journey which we are currently travelling together in obedience to the prayer of the Lord for the unity of the disciples (cf Jn 17:21-23). Subsequently, meetings between Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas and Saint John Paul II, first in Rome and then in Damascus, signalled new progress in introducing concrete elements of pastoral collaboration for the good of the faithful.
How things have changed since those early meetings! His, Holiness, has been a Church of martyrs from the very beginning, and it still is today, in the Middle East, where she continues to suffer, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings of war, of violence and of persecution. So much suffering! So many innocent victims! Faced with all of this, it seems that the powerful of this world are incapable of finding solutions.
Your holiness, let us pray together for the victims of this brutal violence and of all situations of war which are present in the world. A special remembrance goes out to Metropolitan Mor Gregorios Ibrahim and to the Metropolitan of the Greek-Orthodox Church, Paul Yazigi, captured together more than two years ago. Let us also remember some priests and many people, from various groups, who have been deprived of their freedom. Let us together implore from the Lord, the grace to always be ready to forgive and to be agents of reconciliation and peace. This is the strength of the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and an instrument of edification for the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of peace and justice.
Your Holiness, Your Beatitude, dear brothers, at this moment of difficult trial and of suffering, let us strengthen once again the ties of friendship and fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Syro-Orthodox Church. Let us hasten our steps on this common journey, keeping our eyes fixed on the day when we will celebrate our belonging to one Church in Christ around the same altar of sacrifice and praise. We exchange the treasures of our traditions as spiritual gifts, for that which unites us is far greater than that which still divides us.
I make my own, the words of your beautiful Syriac prayer: Lord, through the intercession of your Mother and of all the saints, bless us and all our beloved dead. May the memory of the Virgin Mary be a blessing for us: may her prayers be a fortress for our souls. Apostles, martyrs, disciples and saints, pray for us, that the Lord may grant us his mercy. Amen.
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