Catholic, Orthodox representatives welcome papal visit to Turkey

Published: 2006-11-02

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At a meeting in Washington, North American Catholic and Orthodox representatives welcomed the upcoming papal visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey and urged the Turkish government to end restrictions on the patriarchate. As part of his trip to Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI plans to meet with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in Istanbul Nov. 29-30. Istanbul was formerly called Constantinople, and before that Byzantium. The patriarchate there has a historic role as the center of unity of the Orthodox churches. The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation met Oct. 26-28 at St. Paul's College in Washington. In a statement written during the meeting and released Nov. 1, the consultation members noted that there have been several meetings of pope and ecumenical patriarch since the historic meeting of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem in 1964.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .