A hope that “Benedict XVI’s visit to Istanbul would further improve relations between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople” was expressed in recent days by Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European institutions. “Since it was the Churches of Rome and Constantinople that broke off communion in 1054 – added Bishop Hilarion -, they are in a special way responsible for the restoration of unity”. In the view of the representative of the Patriarchate of Moscow, “apart from contacts with Constantinople, it is equally important that the Roman Catholic Church should develop bilateral relations with other Orthodox Churches, in particular with that of Russia. The latter Church, the second largest in the world with its 160 million faithful worldwide, is anxious to develop these relations, especially in the context of common Christian witness in today’s secularised society”. Bishop Hilarion lastly urged that “the forthcoming meeting between Benedict XVI and Bartholomew not be seen as a meeting between leaders of the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity”. “To present Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople as the world head of the Orthodox Church is misleading – he points out -, just as it misleading to regard the meeting as one between the leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches”. “The Patriarch of Constantinople – concludes Hilarion – is primus inter pares , but it’s a primacy of honour, not of jurisdiction, since he has no ecclesial authority over other Churches”.
