Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 1069

II

Ad Bartholomaeum I, Archiepiscopum Constantinopolitanum Patriarcham

Oecumenicum.

To His Holiness Bartholomaios I

Archbishop of Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarch.

The feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brother of Peter and Patron of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate, gives me the opportunity to convey to Your Holi-

ness my prayerful good wishes for an abundance of spiritual gifts and divine

blessings.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice (Phil 4: 4).

These words of Saint Paul inspire us to share our joy on this happy

occasion. The feast of Saint Andrew, like that of Saints Peter and Paul,

has enabled us each year to express our common apostolic faith, our union

in prayer and our joint commitment to reinforce the communion between us.

A delegation from the Holy See, led by my venerable brother Cardinal Walter

Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,

will attend the solemn Divine Liturgy presided over by Your Holiness

together with members of the Holy Synod. In my heart I vividly recall my

personal participation last year in the celebration of this feast at the Ecu-

menical Patriarchate, and I remember with deep gratitude the warm wel-

come extended to me on that occasion. That encounter, the presence of my

delegate this year at the Phanar, as well as the visit from a delegation of the

See of Constantinople for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome, all

represent authentic signs of the commitment of our Churches to an ever

deeper communion, strengthened through cordial personal relations, prayer

and the dialogue of charity and truth.

This year we thank God in particular for the meeting of the Joint Com-

mission which took place in Ravenna, a city whose monuments speak elo-

quently of the ancient Byzantine heritage handed down to us from the undi-

vided Church of the first millennium. May the splendour of those mosaics

inspire all the members of the Joint Commission to pursue their important

task with renewed determination, in fidelity to the Gospel and to Tradition,

ever alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in the Church today.