Posted on 12/14/2006 4:22:55 PM PST by sergey1973
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, has met the Pope in Rome as part of efforts to bring their two churches together.
It was the first official meeting at the Vatican between Greece's most senior cleric and the leader of the world's Roman Catholics.
Their talks focused on attempts to end the Great Schism that dates from 1054.
They also appealed for an end to religious violence, and pledged to defend Christianity in Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Orthodox/Catholic PING !
Pope meets with head of Greece Church
Additionally, the following story has now surfaced in Yahoo News.
Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, has asked Pope Benedict XVI to return a fragment of the Parthenon to Athens, his spokesman said.
Christodoulos made his request during his first-ever visit to the Vatican, but has yet to receive a response, spokesman Viki Markaki said.
The Parthenon on the Acropolis is the most famous surviving building of ancient Greece and considered an architectural masterpiece.
It has often been pillaged over the centuries, and Greece regularly asks for fragments which have turned up in the world's biggest musems, including the British Museum, to be returned.
On Thursday, Christodoulos joined the head of the Roman Catholic Church in appealing for an end to religious intolerance and violence.
The two religious leaders also stressed their willingness to defend "the Christian roots of the European continent" and to promote "the sacred nature and dignity of each person."
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