In this picture provided by the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate, Pope Benedict XVI, accompanied by Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, second left, kisses an icon, next to two white boxes containing relics of saints, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George.
REMINDER
EWTN will be providing live coverage of the Patriarch's Divine Liturgy, with the Holy Father concelebrating. Coverage is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 30 at 2AM EST (for the early birds) with encore at 2PM EST. EWTN is broadcast via cable, satellite tv and over the internet.
The Pope will take part in the Divine Liturgy but, as you know, he will not be able top aprtake of the Eucharist. A Monsignor who hosts EWTN correctly observed that and explained that this can onyl happen when the fullness of union is achieved, a short term for theological union.
He alwso quite correctly noticed that mere 40 years have brought us so much closer than the previous one thousand years, a great speed indeed in Church terms. Just the fact that we recgonize One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in us is a true step forward.
It was really touching to watch both of them next to each other. The Pope stood, of course, to the right, and was always half a step ahead of the Patriarch — always first, symbolically and otherwise.
When the Pope came to visit America, the first in the greeting party was the representative of the Echumenical Patriarchate, a small detail that probably went unnoticed at that time. This goes back to the Council of Chalcedon, that established that the Ecumenichal Patriarch shall ahve equal privileges but be second in honor to the Bishop of Old Rome.
Brothers and sisters, this is truly a historic event.
The reading of Zechariah 8:7 in the Cathedral of St. George tonight said it all:
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west."
There is hope.