1170 Acta Apostolicæ Sedis - Commentarium Officiale

NUNTIUS

Ad Suam Sanctitatem Bartholomaeum I Patriarcham Oecumenicum.

To His Holiness Bartholomaios I Archbishop of Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarch

« Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and

the Lord Jesus Christ ».1

After welcoming with joy the delegation which Your Holiness sent to

Rome for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, it is with the same joy that I

convey, through this message entrusted to Cardinal Kurt Koch, President

of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, my spiritual close-

ness on the feast of Saint Andrew, Peter's brother and the patron saint

of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. With the heartfelt affection reserved for

beloved brothers, I offer my prayerful best wishes to Your Holiness, to the

members of the Holy Synod, to the clergy, monks and all the faithful, and

- together with my Catholic brothers and sisters - join your own prayer

on this festive occasion.

Your Holiness, beloved brother in Christ, this is the first time that

I address you on the occasion of the feast of the Apostle Andrew, the

first-called. I take this opportunity to assure you of my intention to pur-

sue fraternal relations between the Church of Rome and the Ecumenical

Patriarchate. It is for me a source of great reassurance to reflect on the

depth and the authenticity of our existing bonds, the fruit of a grace-filled

journey along which the Lord has guided our Churches since the historic

encounter in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras,

the fiftieth anniversary of which we will celebrate shortly. God, the source

of all peace and love, has taught us throughout these years to regard one

1 Eph 6:23.