” “” “” “Tomorrow, Card. Walter Kasper, president of the Papal Council for promoting the union of the Christians, is giving a message by Pope Benedict XVI to Patriarch Bartholomew I. The cardinal will read it at the end of the Divine Liturgy, which will be celebrated in Istanbul during the Festival of St. Andrew, in the Church of Saint George at Phanar. "This year, the delegation of the Holy See it is written in a note made known today by the Vatican ministry will have a special task: bringing the special memory of the Holy Father in the first anniversary of his historical visit to Turkey, and of his meeting with his Oriental Brother". To point out this anniversary, the Pope gives the Patriarch a precious reproduction of "The Mystic Lamb" from the vault of the Basilica of San Vitale, in Ravenna (VI century). The mosaic specially ordered for the circumstance by the Archdiocese of Ravenna was carried out in accordance with the Byzantine tradition of Ravenna, and evokes the meeting of Benedict XVI and Bartholomew on November 30th, 2006, through a silver inscription. "Owing to the subject of the work and the collocation of its original said the Vatican ministry, the gift hints at the recent plenary meeting of the Commission for Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue", hosted by Archbishop of Ravenna, Msgr. Giuseppe Verucchi. ” “” “
