“Dialogue of religious experience and theological exchanges”; “putting into practice of the recognition of the Orthodox Churches as sister Churches”; “dialogue of charitable works”; and development “of ecumenical relations”: these, in the view of the apostolic vicar for Anatolia (Turkey) Monsignor Luigi Padovese, are the steps to be taken in pursuit of unity with the Orthodox Churches. Speaking at a conference on the future of ecumenism recently held in Aleppo (northern Syria), Msgr. Padovese recalled the visit of Cardinal Kasper to the Syrian city in March 200 for the inauguration of “a church with an ecumenical vocation, placed at the disposal of the various local communities, Catholic and Orthodox, for their celebrations”. What separates the Orthodox Churches from the Roman Catholic Church, admits Padovese, is the “exercise of the Petrine ministry” on which, he recalls, “John Paul II had declared his willingness to ‘find a form of exercise of primacy open to a new situation, but without any renunciation of the essence of his own ministry”. So what future is there for ecumenism, understood as a “commitment to transform the contradictory affirmations into constructive impulses?”. “Already it is possible to speak of ‘real advances'”, observed Padovese, but the ecumenical process needs to be deepened, by encouraging “the dialogue of religious experience, in which the spiritual riches to be shared may be finally liberated”. The “dialogue of theological exchanges” also needs to be fostered: starting out from the “purification of memory, it should seek the causes of divisions” and “not let the past paralyse our present”. But we also need to “renounce any kind of proselytism: the basis of our current relations must be our mutual recognition as sister Churches and dialogue in truth and in charity”. Msgr. Padovese also said “it is of great importance, as Cardinal Kasper suggested, to “create permanent institutional structures between the churches”, a kind of “hot line for the regular exchange of information and opinions”. According to Padovese, “the course undertaken by John Paul II will be continued by Benedict XVI who intends to devote great attention to the ecumenical question”.
