Tuesday, July 3, 2018

This weekend in Bari

At 11:00am this morning, at the Holy See Press Centre, there was a Press Conference to present the details of the Holy Father's upcoming meeting with Church leaders from various Christian communities throughout the Middle East.  The title for this meeting - which will take place on 7 July of this year is May peace be upon you!  Christians together for the Middle East.

Present at this morning's Press Conference were His Eminence, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; and His Eminence, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.


Remarks prepared by His Eminence, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri
Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, following the example of his predecessors, the Holy Father, Pope Francis has, from the beginning of his Pontificate, maintained a special attention for the Eastern Churches which includes three dimensions, all of which work together as if in one embrace.

a.  Attention paid to the Eastern Churches which are already in full communion with the Catholic Church: in the Mass which began his Pontificate, standing in front of the Altar of Peter's Confession, the Holy Father prayed while surrounded by Patriarchs and Major Archbishops from the Eastern Catholic Churches.  With them, he has held private meetings during the Plenary Sessions of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches: in November 2013, and again in October 2017.  He receives some of the Patriarchal Churches in Ad Limina Visits and he also receives some of the Patriarchs for private visits from time to time.  In the case of newly-elected Patriarchs (Coptic, Armenian, Melkite), he personally chooses to preside over the ecclesiastic communio during the morning Eucharistic celebration inside the Domus Santae Marthae.

b.  Attention paid to the Eastern Orthodox Church, which Cardinal Koch may better be able to elaborate: words and gestures of welcome, insistence on opening doors and of pointing out pathways ... sharing of sufferings and coining the well-known expression ecumenism of blood.  Let us consider the closeness expressed to the Coptic Church on the occasion of the martyrdom of some of her faithful by the SAESH and about the bomb attacks that have taken place in some churches.  Regarding the relationship existing between Oriental Catholics and Oriental Orthodox faithful, I cannot fail to cite here the powerful gesture by which Pope Tawadros and Patriarch Ibrahim, both Coptic Catholics, each wished to be present and to send congratulatory messages on the occasion of each other's enthronements, as well as the celebration of the proclamation of Saint Gregory Narek as a Doctor of the Church: a ceremony which took place in the presence of all the Armenian, Catholic and Apostolic Patriarchs in April 2015 as well as the inauguration of a statue of the Saint in the Vatican gardens the following April.

c.  Attention to the dimension of inter-religious dialogue: in the Middle East, even the Islamic believers themselves have been wounded and are suffering as a result of those who have used violence by profaning the name of God, who is peace; even they have been forced to leave their homes and their homelands, together with minorities, not only Christians but also Yazidi in Iraq.  Of particular importance was the memorable Apostolic voyage to Egypt in April 2016 and the meeting that took place at the Al-Ahzar University.

This embrace is an expression of constant attention, addressed through calls for prayer and initiatives aimed at promoting peace, rescuing those who are suffering or those who have been forced to leave and to seek refuge from violence or persecution: those who have used violence never before asked for an identity card in order to establish Christian confession or belonging (Catholic, Orthodox, Apostolic etc, Sunni Muslim, Shiite etc ...).  Those who need help should not be classified but rather welcomed as men, women and children (let us consider the voyage to the Island of Lesvos); they ask for unity and together, as was the case in the Holy Sepulchre during the voyage to the Holy Land in May 2015, in the Vatican Gardens just a few weeks afterwards, and the day of fasting and prayer for Syria which culminated with the vigil held in Saint Peter's Square in September 2013.

We must also not forget the daily work being carried out by the Secretariat of State in the persons of the Cardinal Secretary of State, the Secretary for Relations with States and all the Pontifical Representatives.

The idea of a meeting such as the one which will be held in Bari comes from afar and from many voices: various Churches and Patriarchs have spoken directly about it with the Holy Father during their visits to Rome - I remember for example the visit of the Chaldean and the Oriental Assyrian Patriarchs - or through written appeals such as the one that was sent in February 2016 by the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï in the name of the other Catholic Patriarchs in the Middle East, who were met in assembly, with the approval and willingness to intervene which had also been expressed by some non-Catholic Church leaders in that region.

The meeting which will take place on 7 July is intended to be a strong gesture of the essential nature of such a gathering.  In fact, it will consist of two great moments: prayer on the beachfront together with the faithful who wish to participate personally or via live television, and a moment of reciprocal reflection and listening between the Holy Father and the leaders of Churches and Ecclesial Communities in the Middle East, each contributing their own points of view, observations and proposals.  An introductory report which was entrusted to Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem will be followed by a time for free discussion.  This part of the meeting will take place behind closed doors.  It is expected that the Holy Father will offer a word at the beginning of the public prayer and at the conclusion of the meeting.  When they re-open the doors of the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, Pope Francis and those who are present will make their way to the church yard where they will release doves which will be presented to them by some children: a prophetic gesture, since we must restore hope to children and to the younger generations in the Middle East who have been marked by mis-directed actions and simple indifference throughout recent years.

Bari, the city where the relics of Saint Nicholas are maintained, where the Mother of God is venerated under the title of Odegitria (the one who shows us the way), is a symbolic location: with the presence of both the East and the West, it is a place of pilgrimage and a shore that gives hope.

Acknowledgements: the preparation process, which was decisively undertaken by the Holy Father, was then carried out by our Dicastery with an initial exchange of information with Professor Riccardi, from the Sant'Egidio Community, and later with the Secretariat of State, together with the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the SCV Security Directorate, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Unity among Christians and in close collaboration with the Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto.  Music will be performed by the Archdiocesan choir, with some solo sections in Arabic, Aramaic performed by some students of the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music who are part of the Caldean, Melkite and Maronite Churches.  The gospel will be chanted in Arabic by a deacon who was born in Syria.  In the prayer booklet, which will be made available, one can see how various languages will be used (in addition to Italian): French, English, Arabic, Greek, Eastern and Western Syriac and Armenian.  Special thanks are offered to the staff at the Vatican Media editorial office and to the theological-pastoral office, for the production of the video clip which we saw at the beginning of this Press Conference, a clip which serves to re-launch our attention and our prayer in preparation for the meeting in Bari.

Ever since the announcement of this meeting, which took place on 25 April, the Holy Father has asked us to prepare and to accompany him with our prayers for the gathering that will take place on 7 July.  This call, he renewed during the Angelus this past Sunday, 1 July and in a tweet which was published on that same day: a series of texts and prayers were distributed to the dioceses of Italy through the President of the Italian Conference of Bishops, Cardinal Bassetti, and to the dioceses of Europe through Cardinal Bagnasco, President of the CCEE.

Concerning the presence of the Patriarchs of the Oriental Catholic Churches in the Middle East, all will be in attendance (Coptic, Syrian, Maronite, Chaldean, Armenian) except the Melkite Patriarch who will be represented by the Metropolitan of Aleppo, and the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
(Original text in Italian)


Remarks prepared by His Eminence, Cardinal Kurt Koch
President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity

The Middle East is the land where Christianity was born.  For this reason, it occupies a unique place in the movement of Christian unity.  The Ecumenical Movement has always been convinced that, by deepening their appreciation for common roots, Christians can discover paths to unity.

Therefore, it is not by chance that the event which marked the dialogue of charity between Catholics and Orthodox took place in Jerusalem.  I am referring to the pilgrimage that Blessed Paul VI and Patriarch Atenagoras experienced together on 6 January 1964.  In the land where Christ founded his Church and spilled his blood for her, these two Primates exchanged a kiss of peace, listening to the reading of chapter XVII of the gospel of Saint John and reciting together the Sunday Prayer, committing together and irreversibly to undertaking the path toward unity.

The Middle East, the land of origins, is also one of the regions in the world where the situation being faced by Christians is the most precarious.  As a result of wars and persecution, many families have abandoned their historical homelands in search of security and a better future.  The percentage of Christians in the Middle East has diminished drastically in the course of just one century: while prior to the first World War, they represented 20% of the population in the Middle East, they now represent only 4%.

A martyred region, the Middle East is also a place where ecumenical relations are strongest and most prominent, especially between Orthodox and Catholics.  I wish to mention three principal dimensions: ecumenism of life, ecumenism of holiness and ecumenism of blood.

The minority situation in which Christians find themselves in the Middle East is an urgent reason for meeting in what could be called an ecumenism of life.  In his letter to Christians in the Middle East, Pope Francis rejoiced in the concrete ecumenism currently being experienced by Christians in the Middle East: In the midst of enmities and conflicts, communion that is experienced among you in fraternity and simplicity is a sign of the Kingdom of God (21 December 2014).  This ecumenism of life has sometimes been translated into pastoral agreements provide, in case of necessity, access to the sacraments of other Churches by the faithful - for example between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church (1984) and between the Chaldean Church and the Eastern Assyrian Church (2001).  Christians in the Middle East demonstrate the way toward unity for the sake of their Western brothers and sisters.

The difficult context in which Christians find themselves quickly transforms the ecumenism of life into an ecumenism of holiness.  The Consular decree Unitatis redintegratio underscores the fact that the sanctity of life is the best guarantee of Christian unity: the more that Christians draw close to God, the more they will draw close to one another (UR, 7).  It is obvious that the difficult situations faced by Christians in the Middle East are for them a call to holiness and therefore a pledge of unity.  In his Letter to Christians in the Middle East, the Holy Father emphasized this ecumenical call to holiness for Christians in all Churches throughout the Middle East: The situation in which you live is a strong call to holiness of life, as attested to by saints and martyrs from every ecclesiastical tradition.

When difficulties become sufferings, this ecumenism of holiness becomes ecumenism of blood.  From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has made this argument one of his main ecumenical themes.  Among the various statements, I remember his words spoken at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: When Christians from various denominations find themselves suffering together, side by side, and helping one another with fraternal charity, they bring about an ecumenism of suffering, an ecumenism of blood ... Those who, through hatred of faith, kill and persecute Christians, do not ask them whether they are Orthodox or Catholic, they are Christians.  Christian blood is the same (25 May 2014).

The situation in which Christians in the Middle East are living is an ecumenical incentive not only for them, but also for Christians from all parts of the world.  In this way, various joint declarations signed by the Pope and by other Church leaders have often had as their focus a common preoccupation for Christians in the Middle East, as for example the joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew signed in Jerusalem (25 May 2014) and at Istanbul (30 November 2014), with the Armenian Patriarch, Karekin at Holy Echmiadzin (26 June 2016), with Pope Tawadros in Cairo (28 April 2017) and with Patriarch Kirill in La Habana (12 February 2016).  The difficult situations faced by Christians in the Middle East therefore promote ecumenical rapprochement on a universal level.  In this sense too, the sufferings of these brothers and sisters in faith will not have been in vain.

After these observations of an ecumenical nature, I wish to finish by remembering some principles of the Catholic Church regarding Christians in the Middle East.

The first of these convictions, very simple, is the following: Christians will remain in the region only if peace is restored.  This is the reason why, since the beginning of the crisis, the Catholic Church has tirelessly called for the restoration of peace, especially through the search for political solutions.  This call has also taken the form of prayer and of fasting.  In particular, I wish to remember the organization of the entire Catholic Church, following the initiative of Pope Francis, to observe a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria and in the Middle East on 7 September 2013.

A second principle is the fact that it is not possible to imagine a Middle East without Christians: this is so not only for religious reasons, but also for political and social reasons, because Christians are an essential element for establishing equilibrium in the region.  As Pope Benedict XVI observed in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Middle East: A Middle East without or with few Christians is no longer the Middle East, since Christians participate with other believers in the particular identity of the region (Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, 31).

A third principle is the necessity for protecting the rights of every person and of every minority.  The primacy of rights, comprised of respect for religious freedom and equality in the face of the law, based on the principle of citizenship regardless of ethnic origin or religion, has repeatedly been emphasized by the Catholic Church as a fundamental principle for the establishment and maintenance of a peaceful and fruitful coexistence among the various communities in the Middle East.  The Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, recalled with decisiveness: Christians do not want to be a 'protected minority' and merely tolerated.  They want to be citizens whose rights are defended and guaranteed together with all other citizens (Return to the roots.  Conference on the Nineveh Reconstruction Hel, 27 September 2017, Rome).

A fourth fundamental conviction is the urgent necessity to continue inter-religious dialogue, something which Pope Francis insists upon particularly in his Letter to Christians in the Middle East: Inter-religious dialogue is all the more necessary when the situation is more difficult.  There is no other path.  Dialogue based on an attitude of openness, in truth and in love, is also the best antidote for temptations toward religious fundamentalism, which is a threat to believers of all religions.

On these few convictions, and on many others, we hope to be able to reflect and pray during the encounter in Bari.

No comments: