wfn.org | Address of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

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99-109

Address of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to 
the Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold Presiding Bishop of the 
Episcopal Church of the United States of America during his visit 
to the Ecumenical Patriarchate

     Bishop Griswold, Presiding Hierarch of the Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America, our beloved brother in the Lord 
with deep and heartfelt joy we welcome you to the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate, the ancient See of Saint Andrew the First-Called 
Apostle. With gratitude to God we receive you with the apostolic 
salutation: "Grace and peace be unto you from God the Father and 
from our Lord Jesus Christ."

     We also extend our greetings to the esteemed members of your 
entourage, whom we welcome as friends, as indeed they are, for we 
have known some of them for many years. Through you, we also wish 
to offer our patriarchal blessings and benedictions to all of the 
bishops, clergy and pious faithful of the Episcopal Church in the 
United States of America.

     We are pleased that, following your election as the 
Presiding Bishop, you have continued the old and venerable 
custom, established by your eminent predecessors, to visit the 
heart of our Holy Church here in our beautiful historic City, the 
Queen of Cities. We hope that this visit will be the first of 
many, for your presence here signifies the fervor of our 
brotherly affection and the strength of our mutual commitment to 
cooperate and collaborate as we carry out the work of the Gospel.

     Whenever the venerable Ecumenical Throne receives the heads 
of Churches as our honored guests, it is for us an occasion of 
great rejoicing and all the more so when we receive a spiritual 
shepherd in whom we recognize so clearly the virtues of Faith, 
Hope and Charity as we do in your person. We hope that your 
pilgrimage to the spiritual center of Orthodoxy - to its 
churches, monasteries, shrines, museums and archaeological 
monuments - will lead you to regard our City to truly be the age-
old bridge uniting both East and West, as it indeed has been for 
nearly two millennia.

     The second millennium after Christ will soon come to a 
close. Our millennium began tragically with the division of the 
seamless garment of Christ, His holy Church, namely, with the 
separation between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox 
Church. Subsequent centuries have seen the continued lamentable 
process of fragmentation and disruption of communion between 
believers in Christ both in the East and in the West.

     We glorify God, nonetheless, because in His guiding wisdom, 
the wounds of division that have afflicted the people of God for 
so many centuries are beginning to heal. And we now humbly bow 
before Him in thanksgiving for deeming us worthy to take part in 
this blessed process of healing.

     We speak, of course, of the recent, considerable efforts 
that the Churches around the world have been undertaking to mend 
these divisions, efforts such as our ongoing theological 
dialogues that have lead to the signing of agreed statements on 
matters of faith and ecclesiastical practice. In particular, we 
recognize the value of the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic 
International Commission, as well as the joint statements of 
Leunberg, Poorvo and Waterloo. These activities indeed show that 
the centuries-old barriers of isolation and estrangement between 
those who bear the name of Christ are finally giving way and the 
foul odor of deadly separation is being overcome by the sweet 
"fragrance of life unto life" (II Cor. 2:16).

     Your visit this day is in part an outcome of our prayers and 
efforts for continued growth and understanding between our 
Churches with the hope of attaining a common witness a shared 
martyria through word, deed and sacrament unto the world around 
us. The faithful of our Churches in the United States have a 
critical role to play in this endeavor, through the promotion of 
Christian fellowship, the cultivation of theological 
understanding and the development of joint social actions. Such 
fraternal acts will ultimately assist us all in progressing 
toward our common hope and prayer for unity so that as disciples 
of Jesus Christ, we may be one, even as our Triune God is One.

     The Holy Church of Constantinople - the Church of dialogue - 
remains faithful to the tradition and patristic teaching of the 
ancient, undivided Church. For, following the words of Saint 
Basil the Great, we also desire "that the body of Christ, having 
returned to unity in all its parts, may be made perfect and that 
we may not only rejoice at the good fortune of others, as we do 
now, but may also see our own Churches recover their ancient 
glory of Orthodoxy" (Epistle XCII).

     Therefore, the Ecumenical Throne is dedicated and will 
continue to promote the cause of Christian unity. From long 
experience, however, we know that the path to our common and 
sacred goal is long and difficult. It demands selfless and 
tireless effort, good will and love. As we traverse this straight 
and narrow way, we must first and foremost open our hearts to 
receive strength and direction from the Spirit of Truth Himself, 
the promised Comforter and Paraclete, the very animator of our 
life in Christ who will lead us forward with boldness and 
conviction.

     With this in mind, we must now recognize and contend with 
the current ecumenical malaise that has impeded our mutual 
undertakings. In recent times, there has been a cooling of 
relations, a loss of our initial drive to accomplish the task set 
before us. Never before in the history of the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate's participation in inter-Christian relations--which 
includes full membership in the World Council of Churches since 
its foundation in Amsterdam in 1948 and participation in the 
Conference of European Churches, as well as in other regional and 
national Christian councils has this situation been so 
troublesome. This has caused many, perhaps rightfully so, to 
proclaim this period to be the "winter of ecumenism."

     For this reason we are disheartened. We are also saddened 
because the current strain and disappointment of some of our 
sister Orthodox Churches in the direction that our ecumenical 
partnership has taken, has caused them to withdraw for a time 
from certain ecumenical activities as a way of expressing their 
uneasiness over particular issues. Their concerns are indeed 
legitimate, especially in the matter of missionary activities and 
open proselytism within their local ecclesiastical jurisdictions 
by outside agencies or in the matter of changing criteria for 
ordination to holy orders. We, nonetheless, wish to affirm that 
by the grace of God and our honest, forthright reflection and 
commitment to the truth, even these obstacles can be overcome.

     Once again, beloved brother, we welcome you into our midst. 
We hope you will enjoy our hospitality to the fullest and take 
advantage of the cultural and historic offerings of this City. 
With our whole heart we pray for the love, mercy and peace of 
Almighty God upon you and the honorable members of your 
entourage, so that in length of days and strength of soul as you 
may continue your service and ministry with dedication unto the 
glory of the Lord's most holy Name.

     The grace of God-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-be with you 
always. Amen.