Catholic, Orthodox have a relationship as sister churches, says pope

Published: 2006-06-14

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Just as Sts. Peter and Andrew were brothers, the Catholic and Orthodox churches have a special relationship as true sister churches, Pope Benedict XVI said. After Christ's death and resurrection, St. Peter left Jerusalem for Rome in order to carry out the universal mission Jesus entrusted to him, the pope said during his June 14 weekly general audience. St. Andrew, fluent in Greek, went to the Greek world, he said, and became the "apostle of the Greeks." The Gospels show that in their life and death, Sts. Peter and Andrew were "true brothers" and that their brotherhood is expressed "symbolically in the special rapport between the sees of Rome and Constantinople, churches (that are) truly sisters," Pope Benedict said. Before a crowd of more than 35,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, the pope continued a series of talks on the apostles by turning to St. Andrew, patron saint of the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.

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