Cardinal O’Brien weighs in on pope’s Holy Land pilgrimage

Catholic Review ^ | 5/14/14 | Paul McMullen

[Welchie25]

When Pope Francis highlights his upcoming pilgrimage to the Holy Land by meeting with the leader of the Orthodox Church, the papal delegation will include Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, a most interested observer.

Since May 2012, the archbishop emeritus of Baltimore has served as grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, which promotes the support and protection of Christians in the Holy Land.

The pope is scheduled to meet May 25 in Jerusalem with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, according to Catholic News Service, “considered first among equals by Orthodox bishops.” According to an official itinerary, the two will sign a joint declaration.

The meeting will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s historic meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras. Their 1964 meeting in Jerusalem opened a modern dialogue and led the two churches to lift the mutual excommunications that had led to the East-West schism in 1054.

According to CNS, the pilgrimage’s official logo depicts the embrace of Sts. Peter and Andrew, patrons of the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

“This is an ecumenical mission,” Cardinal O’Brien said. “Very early in the day he (Pope Francis) hit it off with the Eastern Orthodox.

“Ecumenically, it’s going to be very important, because the trust that has so often been lacking, East versus West, the sign of mutual love and respect that will be evidenced between the pope and the patriarch will have a great effect on other parts of the church as well.”