The archbishop’s death means the disappearance of a "particularly significant figure from the Orthodox and ecumenical scenes of the last few years". Contacted by SIR, mgr. Vincenzo Paglia, bishop of Terni and president of the Commission of the Italian Bishops Conference for ecumenical dialogue, learns the news. The bishop’s mind immediately goes back to "John Paul II’s memorable journey to Athens, which marked an extremely important step in the ecumenical journey. John Paul deeply wished that such visit would be reciprocated in Rome, which unfortunately only happened on the days of his funeral, which the archbishop attended, which shows how important the Athens meeting had been for relations between the two Churches. In the particular state of Greek Orthodoxy, archbishop Christodoulos acted as a bridge with the Catholic Church. We wish the road started by Christodoulos will remain open for strengthening that Christian brotherhood that makes the announcement of the Gospel effective at the start of this millennium". Finally, mgr. Paglia recalls that Terni today will host some Greek Orthodox monks in the Monastery of San Cassiano in Narni, which was given them as their Italian monastery. "It is says mgr. Paglia a coincidence of brotherhood".
