Orthodox leader addresses Synod, cites progress since Vatican II

CWN - October 11, 2012

In an October 11 address to the Synod of Bishops, the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople said: "Our presence here signifies and seals our commitment to witness together to the Gospel message of salvation and healing for the least of our brethren: the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten in God’s world.”    The Ecumenical Patriarch called attention to the date, the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, which he described as a “transforming milestone” in Church history. Citing the progress that has been made in those 50 years in relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the Orthodox leader said: “We join in the hope that the barrier dividing the Eastern Church and the Western Church will be removed, and that - at last - there may be but the one dwelling, firmly established on Christ Jesus, the Cornerstone, Who will make both one.”