Greece: the time of the spirit ” “

4 May 2001: John Paul II visited Athens. And on that occasion, during his meeting with His Beatitude Christódoulos, Orthodox archbishop of Athens and all Greece, the Pope urged the need to “overcome in a spirit of reciprocal charity the disputes of the past and the persistent misunderstandings between us, because it is the Lord who asks it of us”. The Holy Father’s appeal was accompanied by a request for forgiveness “for the past and present occasions in which sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by sins of commission or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters”. “The division between Christians is a sin against God – added John Paul II – and a scandal to the world. It is an obstacle to the spreading of the Gospel because it makes our proclamation less credible”. Eight months after that visit and on the eve of the Prayer Week for Christian Unity (18 – 25 January) we interviewed the president of the Greek Bishops’ Conference, Msgr. Nikolaos Foskolos , archbishop of Athens. After the Pope’s visit to Athens in May 2001 how are the relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church? “One visit, as already pointed out by the Orthodox archbishop of Athens, Christodoulos, does not solve the problems. Of course, for us Catholics that visit was a happy event. We received a confirmation in our faith. The Pope’s plea for forgiveness also created a climate favourable for forging closer relations between the two Churches. But it’s not easy to continue along this road, because Rome does not understand the East very well, nor does the East understand Rome. But the great hope for a fruitful dialogue remains”. Could the Prayer Week for Christian Unity give a further impulse to this dialogue? “We truly believe so. In our churches various celebrations are planned which will culminate in the Sunday celebration in the cathedral of Athens on 20 January. However, it has to be said that in all these celebrations no official presence of the Orthodox Church is planned. But that’s nothing new, given that the Orthodox Church has never participated in such events”. What about the other Christian churches? “Not only Greek and Armenian Catholics, but non-Catholic Armenians and our brothers of the Protestant Churches will be present at these celebrations. We will have prayers with the other confessions, for example in the evangelical church in Athens. The presence of some Orthodox clerics is possible, but only in a personal capacity. Orthodox clergy have sometimes been seen at such events in the past, but they fear to take part in them because, according to the sacred canons of the Orthodox Church, it is prohibited to pray in communion with schismatics and heretics, as Catholics are still considered”. How do Greek Catholics come to terms with this difficulty of dialogue? “Our faithful regret this situation. They know very well that in the Greek-Orthodox mentality anyone who is not Orthodox is considered not a Greek but a foreigner. That’s something difficult to understand for those who don’t live in Greece”. In spite of that, do Greek Catholics still believe in ecumenical dialogue? “Undoubtedly. Our hand is always extended to all our sister churches, the Orthodox Church in the first place. Dialogue is not built up with the time of man but with that of the Spirit. The Pope’s apostolic journey to Greece is a demonstration of this. If we remain at the level of human hope, we would have to speak of a very long time, but if we speak of the time of the Spirit then anything is possible. In that sense we never lose hope”. D.R.