No privilege

“Promoting the vocational ministry, and identifying the right approach to dialogue with the Catholic episcopates of the various rites” and “with the Orthodox Church”: these were the main priorities indicated by BENEDICT XVI to the Greek bishops whom he received in audience in the Vatican on 30 October on their “ad limina” visit. The Pope recalled some of the “pastoral problems” of major concern to the Greek bishops such as “the influx of Catholics from surrounding nations that poses new needs of ministerial service”; in this respect the Pope called for “a constructive dialogue with the other episcopates”. Benedict XVI also mentioned the question of the failure thus far to secure legal recognition for the Catholic Church in Greece. “The Church does not seek any privilege – he explained – but asks only that its own identity and mission be recognized. The Holy Father, lastly, expressed his good wishes to the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Christodoulos. “Significant acts of communion with Orthodox bishops”, “the extraordinary growth in the number of Catholics”, “a secularisation that has not yet gained hold of the faithful in any worrying fashion”, but also “the grave shortage of vocations” and the delay in achieving legal recognition of the Catholic Church: these were the positive and negative aspects that the Greek bishops expressed to Benedict XVI during their “ad limina” visit to the Vatican. ECUMENICAL LABORATORY. Re-affirming their “constant fidelity to the See of Peter”, the Greek bishops, through their mouthpiece, Monsignor FRANCESCO PAPAMANOLIS , spoke of the Greek Catholic Church as “a permanent ecumenical laboratory” and “reliable thermometer to gauge the real progression or regression of contacts with our Orthodox brothers of Greek language and tradition”. “The Greek Orthodox hierarchy shows us the real face of ecumenism” – explained Msgr. Papamanolis -. We are working in the front line, within the borders of our country, amid great daily difficulties, to create contacts with the Orthodox Church at the level of the local Church. In our personal relations with the Orthodox Church, and in our dioceses, we try to understand better the feelings of our Orthodox brethren, their way of conceiving reality and judging Catholicism in practice, and at the same time we try to bring home to them the true face of the Catholic Church, beyond any deforming lens through which the image of our Church is often filtered. In spite of the reservations of the official Orthodox Church about the Catholic Church, we have succeeded in creating excellent personal contacts with various Orthodox bishops and, in some cases, significant acts of communion have been realized”. JOYS AND CONCERNS. Positive feedback has also been received from the faithful “who still find in the Church an essential point of reference for their life”. “All of them – said Papamanolis – have their children baptized, almost all get married in church, and over three-quarters of children, in some areas 100%, attend catechism. Albeit with many difficulties, we are still managing to provide proper pastoral care to our youth. We try to actively involve the laity in the life of the church, and the regular church meetings held in our dioceses have contributed to this”. The Greek bishops particularly rejoice in “the extraordinary and unexpected growth of the number of Catholics in Greece: their number has risen from 50,000 to over 350,000. This is due to the influx of immigrants. It obliges us to revamp our pastoral ministry. At the Sunday Mass of one parish we counted faithful of 40 different nationalities. Native Greek Catholics have become a minority of only 18% within the Catholic Church in Greece”. But, at the same time, the bishops lament the “lack of vocations” which “prevents us from tackling the pastoral problems not only of our immigrants, but also those of Greek Catholics. Aid from the churches of origin of these immigrant Catholics, though requested by us bishops, is virtually non-existent”. LACK OF “LEGAL RECOGNITION”. But what is of greatest concern to the Greek bishops is the “lack of any recognition of the juridical personality of the Catholic Church in Greece and of its institutions”. The request made to the Greek government, which has set up a mixed Commission for the purpose, is clear: “the recognition of the Catholic Church in Greece as juridical person of ecclesiastical right”. Fact FileAccording to sources of the Greek Bishops’ Conference, there are some 50,000 indigenous Greek Catholics, equivalent to 0.5% of the population, a religious, not ethnic minority. In recent years a considerable increase in the number of foreign Catholics has been registered; they have brought the total number of Catholics to 350,000. Most of them live in Athens. There are 11 dioceses, with 88 parishes; 10 bishops assisted by 55 diocesan clergy, 41 religious clergy and 2 permanent deacons. There are some 160 men and women religious and 122 catechists. The Greek Church runs a hospital, 5 clinics, a kindergarten and 6 centres of social re-education.