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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Jun 29th, 2008 10:32 pm |
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Vatican City, Jun 29, 2008 / 12:06 pm (CNA).- During the celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul at the Vatican Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI called the Archbishops who had just received the pallium to be shepherds of the whole world. He said the world, like the Gospel’s lost sheep, has lost its way home.
The Mass was attended by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, who in an unprecedented gesture was invited to deliver a homily.
The Patriarch's homily, which preceded the Pope's, centered upon the growing links of friendship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, whose see is in Constantinople. The majority of the Christians who remain in the areas once evangelized by St. Paul belong to the Orthodox Church.
Following the tradition established by Pope John Paul II, during the solemnity 40 of the 42 Archbishops of the world appointed during the last year received the pallium from the Pope’s hands as a symbol of both their pastoral authority and their unity with the Pope.
“By their martyrdom,” Pope Benedict said during the homily, “Peter and Paul are now part of Rome: by his martyrdom Peter too has become a Roman citizen forever. By their martyrdom, their faith and their love, both Apostles show us where true hope is found. They are the founders of a new kind of city, which always has to be rebuilt in the midst of the old human city, which remains threatened by the opposing forces of sin and human selfishness.”
”By virtue of their martyrdom,” the Holy Father continued, “Peter and Paul are forever in a mutual relationship. A beloved image of Christian iconography is the embrace of the two apostles on their way to martyrdom.”
“We can say: their own martyrdom, deep inside, is the achievement of a brotherly embrace,” he added.
Pope Benedict then explained that the permanent mission of Peter is “to ensure that the Church is never identified with a single nation, a single culture or a single state, that it may always be the Church of all. That she may gather humanity beyond any border and, in the midst of the divisions of this world, that she may always bring the presence of God’s peace and the reconciling strength of His Love.”
Addressing the Archbishops who were about to receive the pallium, the Holy Father recalled that the pallium “has been made with the wool of lambs, which the Bishop of Rome blesses every year during the feast of the Chair of St. Peter,” thus making the pallium “a symbol of Christ’s flock, over which you preside.”
“When we take the pallium over our shoulders, we are reminded of the Shepherd who takes over his shoulders the lost little lamb, which by itself can’t find the road back home, and brings it back to the flock.”
“The Fathers of the Church,” he continued, “have seen in this little lamb the image of the whole of humanity, which is lost and can no longer find the way home. The Shepherd who brings it home can only be the Logos, the eternal Word of God Himself.”
The pallium, the Pope added, is also “a symbol of our love for Christ the Shepherd and of our love, together with Him. It becomes a symbol of our calling to love humanity like Him, together with Him: those who are searching; those who have questions; those who are sure of themselves, and the humble, the simple and the great. The pallium becomes a symbol of the calling to love all of them with the strength of Christ, so that they may find Him and in Him, find themselves.”
“This is the ministry to which the Lord is calling us,” the Pope concluded. “Let us pray now that He may help us to exercise it rightly.”
The above article is reposted with permission from Catholic News Agency.
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shawnbm
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Posted: Mon Jun 30th, 2008 09:40 pm |
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| I watched this on EWTN last night and thought it was truly wonderful. I thought the participation of the ecumenical patriarch was of great importance, especially since the pontiff had gone to Istanbul earlier at His Eminence's request. The one thing I could not see (I was interrupted) was if Bartholomew approached to take part in the Eucharist or simply exchanged a blessing with His Holiness. I would have to imagine His Eminence would refrain from such a public gesture until more of a concensus were reached in the Orthodox world, but I don't know. Blessings.
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CajunRick
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Posted: Tue Jul 1st, 2008 02:03 am |
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shawnbm wrote: The one thing I could not see (I was interrupted) was if Bartholomew approached to take part in the Eucharist or simply exchanged a blessing with His Holiness. I would have to imagine His Eminence would refrain from such a public gesture until more of a concensus were reached in the Orthodox world, but I don't know. Blessings.
Unfortunately I was unable to watch, but I would suspect he did not partake of the Eucharist. Reception of sacraments is not allowed by the Orthodox except in extreme circumstances (danger of death), so if he would have approached the sacrament he would have violated Orthodox teaching.
Catholic teaching, on the other hand, would have permitted him to receive the Eucharist but not ordinarily to concelebrate. We're close, but not that close.
However, it was a truly significant moment when the Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a homily at a Catholic mass, since canon law permits only bishops, priests and deacons to preach. This was a formal recognition of Bartholomew's orders within the context of a Catholic liturgy, and that is a very big deal.
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Tue Jul 1st, 2008 02:22 am |
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I watched it and noted that Patriarch Bartholomew did not concelebrate and did not communicate. There was, in fact, a group of approximately 30 concelebrating Catholic priests behind the altar, while Bartholomew was seated at the left, in a place of honor similar to that of the archbishops receiving the pallium, with a contingent of Orthodox clergy. Bartholomew joined the Pope Benedict only for the liturgy of the word and for the blessings.
David
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