Fear and joy” “

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January ended yesterday. This year its theme was: “Christ, the one foundation of the Church” (1 Cor 3: 1-23). The ecumenical event followed a few months after the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the Decree of Vatican Council II ‘Unitatis redintegratio’, a key text, said John Paul II in audience on 19 January, which “placed the Catholic Church firmly and irrevocably on the path of the ecumenical movement”. SIR reviewed the results of the Week of Prayer with two representatives of the Greek and Turkish Catholic Church, ‘frontier’ countries of ecumenical dialogue: Monsignor NIKOLAOS Printezis , general secretary of the Greek Episcopal Conference and Archbishop of Naxos-Tino, and Monsignor Georges Marovitch , secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Turkey and spokesman of the Turkish bishops. PRAYER. PATIENCE AND COURAGE. “In Athens, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was marked by an encouraging participation of the Christian churches in Greece. We also registered the presence of various Orthodox faithful who chose to join us in a personal capacity. There are many Orthodox faithful who are favourable to dialogue, but the hierarchies, at least for the time being, seem to be waiting”. The situation of ecumenical dialogue in Greece is reviewed for us by Msgr. Nikolaos Printezis who is hopeful for the future: “We always try to keep dialogue open with the Orthodox Church, which represents the majority in Greece. We try to speak with them, to participate in their events and liturgical feasts and to create a spirit of friendship and brotherhood. Unfortunately these efforts are not always reciprocated. As in the case of the Week of Prayer, the Orthodox did not take part in it, saying that they prayed for unity every day. For the time being we are experiencing a grassroots ecumenism, more among the faithful than at the level of pastors”. This is a problem that could be resolved in time also by drawing on the good personal relations between Catholic bishops and Orthodox metropolitans. As Msgr. Printezis explains, “we personally know many metropolitans and are friends with many. We meet each other and speak to each other. But prayer, patience and courage are needed if we are to go forward together. In spite of the fear, we are trustful about the future of the ecumenical process. A proof of this is the Mass celebrated on the island of Syros on 1st January. It was officiated by the president of the Greek bishops, Msgr. Francis Papamanolis. Orthodox Metropolitan Doroteos II participated in it and gave the homily. A metropolitan who gives the sermon in a Catholic church! Something unthinkable up till a few years ago. The time will come when a Catholic bishop will also be able to preach in an Orthodox church. That’s why we need to commit ourselves to dialogue, an irreversible choice, as the Pope teaches us. We are ready to continue striving towards unity in spite of the difficulties. If we approach it with the heart of Christ, the one foundation, unity will no longer be a mirage”. “MANY LANGUAGES, A SINGLE JOY”. “We wished to begin this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the chapel of the Little Sisters of the Poor on 15 January. There’s an ecumenical rest home there; its residents include many Catholic, Orthodox and even Moslem faithful. We ended the Week in a Greek-Orthodox church. Each day we prayed in a different Christian church so that all the sister churches could bear witness to dialogue and friendship”. According to Monsignor Georges Marovitch, the state of health of the Turkish ecumenical movements seems to be good. “Without hiding the difficulties – he told SIR – I can say that we invested heavily in this Week of Prayer. Since December 2004 we have had various meetings with the ecumenical patriarchate to prepare as best we could, under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Iacovos, an event to which all the Christian churches of Turkey are particularly committed”. Our dialogue is favoured “by the consciousness that we are a tiny minority in a country in which Muslims, with whom we have good relations, form the overwhelming majority. It’s fine to meet together to pray to Christ, the one foundation of the Church, as the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer reminds us. When we met together in the Armenian-Orthodox church, that hosts the largest Christian community in Istanbul, – Marovitch recalls – many of us had tears in our eyes. The languages were and are different, but the Love is one and the same. In these circumstances we experience the joy of feeling ourselves united. Dialogue goes forward, it cannot be turned back”. But there is another commitment on the horizon for the Turkish ecumenical movement: entry into Europe. “Turkey – concludes the spokesman – is faced by an historic turning point. Our Churches too are called to work for the country and make a contribution to peace, freedom and unity”.