Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 699

at all times and in every way".1 On several occasions Your Holiness met with

my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II. Most significant was your visit in

November 1994, when you came to Rome, accompanied by members of your

Holy Synod, to sign a Common Declaration concerning Christology. This

Declaration included the decision to establish a Joint Commission for Theo-

logical Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the

East. The Joint Commission has undertaken an important study of the

sacramental life in our respective traditions and forged an agreement on the

Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari. I am most grateful for the results

of this dialogue, which hold out the promise of further progress on other

disputed questions. Indeed, these achievements deserve to be better known

and appreciated, since they make possible various forms of pastoral cooper-

ation between our two communities.

The Assyrian Church of the East is rooted in ancient lands whose names

are associated with the history of God's saving plan for all mankind. At the

time of the early Church, the Christians of these lands made a remarkable

contribution to the spread of the Gospel, particularly through their mission-

ary activity in the more remote areas of the East. Today, tragically, Chris-

tians in this region are suffering both materially and spiritually. Particularly

in Iraq, the homeland of so many of the Assyrian faithful, Christian families

and communities are feeling increasing pressure from insecurity, aggression

and a sense of abandonment. Many of them see no other possibility than to

leave the country and to seek a new future abroad. These difficulties are a

source of great concern to me, and I wish to express my solidarity with the

pastors and the faithful of the Christian communities who remain there, often

at the price of heroic sacrifices. In these troubled areas the faithful, both

Catholic and Assyrian, are called to work together. I hope and pray that they

will find ever more effective ways to support and assist one another for the

good of all.

As a result of successive waves of emigration, many Christians from the

Eastern Churches are now living in the West. This new situation presents a

variety of challenges to their Christian identity and their life as a community.

At the same time, when Christians from the East and West live side by side,

they have a precious opportunity to enrich one another and to understand

more fully the catholicity of the Church, which, as a pilgrim in this world,

lives, prays and bears witness to Christ in a variety of cultural, social and

1 2 Th 3:16.