In the ecumenical area, he was responsible for an important reconciliation with the Catholic Church when in 2001 he received Pope John Paul II. His great wish was to reciprocate Pope Wojtyla’s visit in Rome, but it wasn’t possible until 2006 with the approval of the Holy Synod on Benedict XVI’s invitation. There, the archbishop did something unprecedented again: he was the first primate in the Orthodox Church of Greece who went on an official visit to the Pope and the Roman Church. On that occasion, in the Basilica of Saint Peter’s, Benedict XVI and Christodoulos read a Joint Declaration, which stated, among other things: “We unanimously assert the need to persevere along the road to a constructive theological dialogue. Despite the difficulties found, this is actually one of the fundamental ways we have available to restore the longed-for unity of the ecclesial body around the altar of the Lord and at the same time to strengthen the credibility of the Christian message received”.
