Pope gives thanks for improved Catholic-Orthodox relations

Published: 2008-12-01

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After meeting three times in one year with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI said it was obvious that official relations between Catholics and Orthodox are growing deeper. "I give thanks to God that he has enabled us to deepen the bonds of mutual love between us, supported by prayer and ever more regular fraternal contact," the pope said in a message to the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox believers. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, delivered the message to the patriarch during ceremonies marking the Nov. 30 feast of St. Andrew, the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In his message, the pope said he had been "blessed three times" in 2008 with personal visits by Patriarch Bartholomew: in March, in June for the opening of the Pauline year, and in October, when the patriarch addressed the world Synod of Bishops on the word of God.

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