ecumenism and dialogue" "
The Feast of St. Andrew Apostle, patron of the Church of Constantinople (Turkey) and of the ecumenical Patriarchate, annually celebrated on 30 November, will have a solemn anticipation this year. On Saturday 27 November, Patriarch Bartholomew I will be received in audience in the Vatican by John Paul II and receive from the Pope’s own hands the relics of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory Nazianzen that will be exposed to the veneration of the faithful in Istanbul on 30 November. “The feast of St. Andrew declares Msgr. Georges Marovitch, secretary of the apostolic Nunciature in Turkey and chairman of the Commission for ecumenism of the Turkish Episcopal Conference is the occasion to reinforce dialogue and friendship with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The ecumenical process cannot be reversed, even if difficulties are encountered on the way”. As is now the tradition, a delegation of the Holy See, bringing a message from the Pope, will participate in the celebrations of the feast of St. Andrew in the church of St. George at Fanar (lighthouse), in Istanbul. The presence of the delegation of the Holy See in Istanbul repays that of the Ecumenical Patriarch that each year attends the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome on 29 June. The programme, not yet published, will presumably consist of the traditional liturgy officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and a ‘conversation’ between the Vatican delegation and the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s synodal Commission for relations with the Catholic Church. A eucharistic celebration for the Catholic community in Istanbul is also expected.
