Ask and ye shall receive

Yesterday I said I should do some research into the background behind Rome-Athens relations since I had forgotten or was not recalling anything I'd read in the past. Zenit provides with an interview with a Monsignor Salachas of the Greek Catholic Exarchy in Athens who explains.

Q: Some years ago, and not that many, a visit by the Orthodox archbishop of Athens to the Pope was quite improbable. What is changing?

Monsignor Salachas: Insofar as I know, Archbishop Christodoulos' intention to visit the Pope already ripened during the last years of John Paul II's pontificate, whose funeral he attended personally.

The starting point of a new era in relations between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church of Greece was precisely John Paul II's Jubilee pilgrimage to Greece in May 2001 "in the footsteps of St. Paul," and the signing of a Joint Declaration in Athens' Areopagus by Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Christodoulos, committing themselves to fraternal collaboration and a common testimony to safeguard the Christian identity of the European continent.

It was followed in March 2002 by the visit to the Holy See of a delegation of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, and in February 2003 by the visit of a delegation of the Holy See, headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to the Church of Greece, and the participation of representatives of the Holy See in several initiatives convoked by the Church of Greece at the international and ecumenical level.

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Constantinople consolidated the decision already made months earlier by the archbishop to visit the Church of Rome and meet with her Bishop to reaffirm the commitment assumed with the declaration in Athens' Areopagus in 2001.

The monsignor's comments on the Eastern Catholic Churches are worth reading:

It is known that the Orthodox Churches' reservation is based on the fact that they don't see a theological foundation that justifies the existence of the Eastern Catholic Churches, while for the Catholic Church the fact of their full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome with the bonds of the profession of the faith, of the sacraments and of the ecclesiastical government, justifies their ecclesiasticism and canonicity.

On several occasions, Orthodox exponents, theologians and ecclesiastics have expressed their point of view for the solution of this problem, considering that Eastern Catholics should opt to return to the Orthodox Church, from which they stem, or incorporate themselves to the Latin Church, inasmuch as they are united to Rome.

Obviously, such a solution cannot find agreement on the part of the Catholic Church, for essentially doctrinal, ecclesiological and pastoral reasons.

I think that "Uniatism" implies fundamentally the more delicate and theologically more difficult question, that is, the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

In a comment I read someplace yesterday, an Eastern Catholic was lamenting the current status of the Eastern Churches as sort of bastard children that were over time being viewed as unwanted and as obstacles to be overcome in the road to ecumenism. The jurisdictional issues that lie ahead should all the other prerequisites of full communion be fulfilled are quite huge in and of themselves.

N. 214 - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006

I should use that as the official title every time I post info from VIS.

• This morning, the Holy Father received His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, who is making an official visit to the Vatican. Prior to his audience with the Pope, the archbishop visited St. Peter's Basilica where he prayed at the tomb of John Paul II.
  [...]
  
  "At the same time," he added, "we must increase collaboration among Christians in all European countries in order to face the new risks that challenge the Christian faith: growing secularization, relativism and nihilism, which open the way to forms of behavior and laws that damage the inalienable dignity of man and threaten such fundamental institutions as marriage. It is vital to undertake joint pastoral activity, as a joint testimony to our contemporaries and an expression of our hope."
  
  
• This morning in the Vatican, following their private meeting and after each had pronounced a public address, the Pope and His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, signed a Joint Declaration in the presence of members of the archbishop's Greek delegation and of Catholic representatives.
  
  "We, Benedict XVI, Pope and Bishop of Rome, and Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, in this sacred place of Rome, ... wish to live ever more intensely our mission to bear apostolic witness, to transmit the faith, ... and to announce the Good News of the birth of the Lord. ... It is also our joint responsibility to overcome, in love and truth, the multiple difficulties and painful experiences of the past."
  
  "Our meeting in charity makes us more aware of our joint task: together to follow the arduous path of dialogue in truth in order to re-establish full communion of faith. ... Thus we obey a divine mandate ... and continue our commitment, ... following the example of the Apostles and demonstrating mutual love and a spirit of reconciliation."
  [...]

I need to find some more material in the Greek Church and its own relationship with Rome. Benedict and Christodoulos got on quite well it looks like. But Greece has its own archconservatives who view Rome with distrust, though they report to Constantinople, not Athens.

• The Office of Liturgical Celebration of the Supreme Pontiff published today the calendar of celebrations at which the Holy Father will preside during the Christmas season:
  
  DECEMBER
  
  - Sunday, 24: Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord. The Pope will celebrate Midnight Mass in the Vatican Basilica.
  
  - Monday, 25: Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord. At noon from the central balcony of the Vatican Basilica, the Pope will deliver his Christmas message to the world and will impart the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.
  
  - Sunday, 31: At 6 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father will preside at first Vespers on the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, during which the traditional "Te Deum" hymn of thanksgiving will be sung for the conclusion of the civil year.
  
  JANUARY 2007
  
  - Monday, 1: Solemnity of Mary Mother of God and 40th World Day of Peace which has as its theme: "The Human Person, the Heart of Peace." In the Vatican Basilica at 10 a.m., the Holy Father will preside at the celebration of Mass.
  
  - Saturday, 6: Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Holy Father to preside at Mass in the Vatican Basilica at 10 a.m.
  
  - Sunday, 7: Baptism of Our Lord. Benedict XVI will preside at Mass in the Sistine Chapel at 10 a.m., during which he will impart the Sacrament of Baptism to a number of children.

Turkey and Regensburg are not to be divorced

Samir Khalil Samir of the Jesuits in Asia News writes on the continuation of what Benedict XVI said at Regensburg through his trip to Turkey. (My bolding.)

[...] But now, most comments are that “finally” Regensburg has been forgotten, wiped out, killed and the Pope changed his “policy” in Turkey [my link], having become even an astute politician who is more careful about opportunity than about truth.

Actually, though, the Pope’s message in Turkey is a continuation of that of Regensburg. The essential message at Regensburg was two-fold. Firstly, with a view toward the West, it was to say that secularization is not a positive thing and does not allow for universal dialogue. Instead, Reason allows for universal dialogue on the condition that it is not detached from religiosity and from moral principles. This was a critique of the West. There was also a critique of the Islamic world, too tempted by violence.

The final aim of this two-fold critique was a positive affirmation: if we want universal peace and global dialogue, these aspirations are threatened in the West and the East by these two main issues. The Pope is thus striving to build a philosophical-theological framework centred on rationality, but a rationality which is open to the transcendental dimension.

In his trip to Turkey, Benedict XVI gave substance to this vision, applying it to a concrete situation, but his thinking remains that of Regensburg. Speaking to the Muslims, he discretely [sic?] recalled the question of violence, but avoided the misunderstanding which occurred with his words at Regensburg. [...]

Father Samir's points are a valid look at the Pope's message from a man who has been intimately involved with Cardinal Ratzinger and then Benedict XVI for some time. He pointed out back on November 1st that "If he refers directly to it, I don’t think it will help because Muslims are not ready to understand it." Father Samir's comments are further comfirmation that Benedict is a pretty bright guy who shouldn't be underestimated when it comes to getting his message across to those who aren't really interested in hearing it.

The Russians unite

Interfax has an article on the impending final unification between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church outside Russia that was formed during the Russian Civil War back in the early 20th century.

New York, December 11, Interfax – The Bishops’ Synod of the Russian Church Outside of Russia has approved the proposals for ‘the time, place and rite of the ceremony of signing the Act of Canonical Communion’ in May 2007.

These proposals have been worked out by the commissions of the ROCOR and Moscow Patriarchate at their recent, the 8th, joint meeting on October 24-26 in Cologne.

The exact date of signing the Act by the primates of the two parts of the Russian Church will be publicized ‘in the nearest future’, the ROCOR official website has reported. After the signing, the unity between the Church Abroad and the Church in Russia will be fully restored.

[Let us skip past internal matters that don't necessarily interest me.]

According to the Act, the Moscow Patriarchate, among other things, recognizes the Church Outside Russia as ‘an indissoluble part of the Local Russian Orthodox Church’, which is ‘independent in pastoral, educational, administrative, management, property, and civil matters’, existing at the same time ‘in canonical unity with the Fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church’.

The ROCOR will continue to be administered by its own Bishops’ Council as its ‘supreme ecclesiastical, legislative, administrative, judicial and controlling authority’ and the body electing its first hierarch on the basis of its own regulations. This election is then ‘confirmed, in accordance with the norms of Canon Law, by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church’.

Agreement with the Moscow patriarch and synod will be sought in making major decision on such matters as education or liquidation of the ROCOR dioceses, while the election of new bishops by the ROCOR Council will be ‘confirmed in accordance with canonical norms’ by the Patriarch and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, since all the newly elected bishops become full-fledged members of the Local and Bishops’ Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church and have the right to participate in the work of the Moscow Synod in the prescribed order.

The supreme instances of ecclesiastical authority for the ROCOR are the Local Council and the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church whose decisions, as well as those of the Holy Synod, extend to the ROCOR with consideration of the particularities described by the Act, by the ROCOR Regulations and by the legislation of the nations in which she performs her ministry.
[...]

The Church Outside Russia was formed during the Civil War by emigre Russian Orthodox clergy on the instruction of Patriarch Tikhon, the then primate of the Russian Church. At present the Church Outside Russia unites about half a million faithful living outside Russia in over 30 countries.

On the one hand, the Russians uniting with their diaspora brethren is nice to see. On the other hand, it's interesting to watch as the Russian Church works to protect and extend its influence beyond the borders of Russia with moves such as this and the continued struggles in Ukraine for dominance.

Israeli law is weird

From Asia News (bolding is all mine):
Holy See-Israel accords are elements of international law

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The Catholic perspective is understanding more and more that Israel’s difficulties to realize and to fulfil – through enactment of laws –the 1993 Fundamental Agreement hinge on the Israeli government’s conception of this agreement and its ensuing unwillingness to recognize it as an international treaty.

A source of the Israeli Catholic Church and expert in international law, told AsiaNews: “Any student of international law, even first-year students, will immediately see that the Fundamental Agreement is an international treaty and thus a juridical and totally binding agreement. After all, it was negotiated, signed and ratified in this form before the whole world. Whether it should be transferred to Israeli law in all its details is up to the State, but the Israeli government cannot describe the treaty as ‘non-binding’ before courts and the Supreme Court just because it has not been translated into law.”

As for defending the Status Quo for the Catholic Church, several ecclesial personalities in Israel have clarified that the Church is not asking for privileges but simply for the recognition of rights granted by the UN itself when the state of Israel was born (1948) with Resolution 181 and which Israel has promised other nations and churches several times over that it would observe. “The State of Israel should adapt its laws to the stipulations of international law. Besides, over the years, Catholic representatives have often consulted the most prominent Israeli law experts and all of them confirmed that there is no reason to think that an Accord as desired by the Church risks being de-legitimized by Israel’s domestic judicial powers.”
[...]

Pretty straightforward assessments and statements there. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See in an interview had a different view of things, making lots of references to the 'nature of Israeli law' without really spelling out what that nature is that makes it so difficult to bring the treaty into Israel law.

Holy See-Israel: painstaking resumption of negotiations

[Said the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See:]
Yes, certainly, they were thus before the birth of the state of Israel and before the establishment of diplomatic ties. Now we are trying to find a way to formalize matters, a way that recognizes these ancient rights while coexisting with Israeli law without problems. However, what the Church is asking for today is contrary to Israeli law. Ultimately, it is in the interests of the Vatican itself not to do something that tomorrow could be rejected or cancelled by parliament. It would be an invitation to failure.
[...]

A) In this Accord, signed in 1993, there is the basis, the framework, the parameters for future accords between Israel and the Holy See. There are clauses that tackle the necessity of tending to religious freedom, the fight against anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity, all matters regarding freedom, as well as an appeal to collaborate in the academic and cultural world. This is a non-binding part because it is worded in generic language and is a sort of infrastructure on which to base relations.

B) Another part stipulated that within one or two years, a financial and economic agreement would be reached to establish rights and duties of Catholic communities in Israel. This should have become law and we are working for this to come about.

From our viewpoint, the transfer of the Fundamental Agreement into law was not foreseen. It was just an agreement that should not have been enshrined into law. On the other hand, more practical things, like the judicial system, taxes and so on, these should have become law.
[...]

There is truly understanding and awareness of feasibility. It is not as it was in the past; we are not faced with a wall or an abyss to fill. On the other hand, we cannot accept what the Vatican wants due to the structure of Israeli law. This is another reason why several months have passed to find a path, an opening. We want to arrive at something lasting.

The ambassador makes a decent point about generic clauses in the original framework that are more guideline than actual specific directives for the relationship. If he had just stuck with that and elaborated, I think that is an understandable point. The framework provides guidelines and successive, more specific agreements on certain policy areas would get down to details. But the comments in the first excerpts and then by the ambassador about Israeli law and its structure... Does this mean that in its history, Israel has never signed a treaty with anyone that has had the force of law? The ambassador makes no effort to explain how treaties and Israeli law relate beyond his murky comments.

Cordial ‘atmosphere’ at the Bilateral Holy See-Israel Commission

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The Bilateral Permanent working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel met this morning at the seat of the Foreign Ministry of Israel. At the end of the meeting, the delegations approved a joint communiqué, in which they spoke, in an “atmosphere of great cordiality”, of “progress” in the talks, expressed a “share commitment to speed up the negotiations”, and noted that the next meeting will take place on the 29th of January.

Negotiations aim at finalising the economic component of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement to protect the Church’s tax status in Israel and protect Catholic holy sites and properties.

The Pope met with Prime Minister Olmert and they talked for a bit before Olmert went off to see Cardinal Bertone and the Relations with States crowd.

The Fundamental Agreement itself.

The pieces are coming together

In the past I've described this blog as the 'nose-bleed seats' of Vatican watching. I don't speak the languages (Latin and Italian) of the primary sources, so I am stuck with merely reacting. Just a moment ago, I thought of a better analogy: the guy standing at the back of a crowd asking the people in front of him what's going on. Anyway, on to business.

Rorate Caeli has lots of good stuff on the motu proprio and the long awaited exhortation.

Cardinal Medina Estevez said, "The publication of the Motu Proprio from the Pope which will liberalize the celebration of the Latin Mass according to the Missal of Saint Pius V is close."

On the exhortation (as translated at Rorate Caeli):

The recourse to the ordination of married priests of proven virtue ("viri probati") to face the lack of vocations is excluded; the admission of remarried divorced persons to Communion is forbidden, but it is recommended that the Christian community welcome and value their presence; the study of the liturgy in Latin and of Gregorian Chant in seminaries is recommended.

The fate of a title

As told by Father Z.

December 12th: Four Major Basilicas of Rome no longer called “Patriarchal”

March 22nd: Patriarchal News

March 1st: Is the Pope no longer Patriarch of the West?

Motu Proprio Watch

Rorate Caeli: Ecclesia Dei meeting tomorrow to discuss liberalization:

From La Repubblica:

Benedict XVI shortens the timing for a reconciliation with the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The "Ecclesia Dei" Commission, established for this purpose by John Paul II, will meet tomorrow in a first plenary session to discuss the question of the liberalization of the Mass in Latin.

The meeting of December 12 is reported by the French news agency I.Media and will include the presence of Cardinal Ricard, a member of the Commission and president of the French Episcopal Conference.

We shall see what we shall see.

I just thought maybe...

Married Men Installed As Priests in N.J.

I read this headline and I thought just maybe Forbes was doing an article on Father Kimel (congratulations to him on his ordination), but I knew it would be about Archbishop Milingo and his company. It's the standard AP wire story. Pretty basic.

In front of a congregation that included nearly two dozen members of the media at the Trinity Reformed Church, Raymond A. Grosswirth of Rochester, N.Y., and Dominic Riccio, of Newark, were installed by Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo.

Then I saw this at Catholic News Agency this morning. I thought it was rather funny.

Parsippany, NJ, Dec. 08, 2006 (CNA) - Two groups made up of former Catholic priests, who are pushing for a married priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church, have issued warnings to married former priests about a third, similar organization, Married Priests Now, which is headed by the excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo.

The recently formed Married Priests Now is holding a convention, from Dec. 7 to 10, at the local Sheraton Hotel. As of Wednesday only 200 people were registered to attend, far less than the 1000 organizers had expected.
[...]

CORPUS and CITI [two married priests associations] cited Milingo’s excommunication after his illicit attempt to ordain three married men as bishops. CORPUS also expressed concern about the new group’s connection with the Unification Church's Rev. Sung Myung Moon, who has called himself the Messiah.

At the big meeting, Archbishop Milingo publicly praised the Reverend Moon for his support, thus proving wrong the archbishop's early assertions that his group is completely independent.

While Archbishop Milingo moving around out there and ordaining people is certainly not good, the only people he's going to get are the extremists. Groups that hold out hope of effecting change in the Church are not going to embrace Milingo's Moonie Marriage Movement.

What to do with the silence

In reply to Michael Dubruiel's post soliciting questions on one's spiritual life for Father Benedict Groeschel where the good Father will answer selected questions, I submitted my own question. In a follow-up email, I elaborated further.

Allow me to explain a bit more. As someone who has lost his hearing only in the last few years as a young adult, I don't know what to do with that silence. The Holy Father talks of silence as an integral part of the Mass, but with the Great Silence (to borrow from the monastics) that is everlasting, it is easy to wander as fragments of music and bits and pieces of the Eucharistic Prayers flit through. I am trying to find structure, something that holds it all together beyond just reading the readings and the rites and the Prayers.

I throw this out to all of you. I am looking for some kind of interior counterpart, a complement to the Mass. Something that ties in with the whole thing, but is not dependent on trying to read along and figure out where the priest is at. Is there some kind of structured 'interior' Mass that isn't just a personal spiritual program of prayer made up by individuals to suit their personal tastes?

The Immaculate Conception

• @ New Advent
  
  
• @ Wikipedia

The Vatican is closed for the day, so I will be too. Mass is at 12:10 and 7:00 here. Be sure to visit your own parish.

Thoughts this eve of the Immaculate Conception

The Motu Proprio
According to Father Z and his travel schedule, the motu proprio (still trying to figure how how that is capitalized, both the M and the P or just the M or neither?) may very well be made public tomorrow. Father Z is guessing based on the fact that he'll be out of town and out of the loop. o{]:¬( But really, his post has quite a bit of informed speculation on both timing and content.

The Blue Mosque episode
I've been reading quite a bit of backlash lately in both directions.

1. The Pope prayed in a mosque! He caved in!
2. The Pope prayed in a mosque! So what?

I've seen good arguments on both sides. Here's a hypothetical question: If Hagia Sophia was still a mosque today and not a museum, would Benedict XVI be criticized for praying there?

Cardinal Hummes
I missed this last week. There's not really a lot that can be said. The issue was discussed, a statement was released. Case closed, right? Maybe Cardinal Hummes wanted to express himself and kind of feel the bounds of his authority as the incoming prefect. Unfortunately, he shot his credibility to hell with everyone who might have given him the benefit of the doubt due to Benedict's judgment.

The silver lining.
As one blogger pointed out, he'll be retired in less than three years and Sao Paolo is now freed up for a Benedict-elected bishop with new ideas on how to stem the outflow of Catholics to the protestant churches down there.

The image I was looking for

Thanks to Katherine for leaving a comment.

Henry isn't hired after all

A follow up on this:

Vatican: Population Control Architect Kissinger Not Advising Pope

VATICAN CITY, December 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican has dispelled any rumor that former U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger is acting as a foreign advisor to Pope Benedict XVI reports the Catholic News Agency. The veracity of the report was held in question, since Kissinger was the architect of US foreign policy supporting population control.

Vatican Spokesman Father Lombardi clarified yesterday that the report from the Italian Newspaper La Stampa saying Benedict XVI had enlisted Kissinger as an advisor is “without any foundation.” Father Lombardi told CNS that Pope Benedict XVI has neither a foreign affairs advisory board, and he has not asked former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to become one of his advisers.

The truth is that Kissinger met privately with the pope on Sept. 28 and that Mary Ann Glendon, a U.S. law professor and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, has extended an invitation to Kissinger to speak to the academy in late April.
[...]

The veracity of the report was first held in question, however, because in 1974 Kissinger as Secretary of State issued National Security Study Memorandum 200 entitled "Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests." The extensive document warned that increasing populations in developing countries endangered U.S. strategic, economic, and military interests.

One thing to remember though is that such a report was written back in the days when guys like Paul Ehrlich were (and still are) running around screaming about a population double or triple or quadruple what we have now along with scare food supplies, no drinkable water and on and on. Mr. Realpolitik probably was quite concerned by such predictions and such events' effects on the US.

I don't even want to read the rest of this

John Allen, whose reporting I've been unimpressed with lately, has the lead story for National Catholic Reporter. After starting off with the usual 'this Pope makes us wait' fluff, Allen sinks his teeth into what he sees as the big moment of Benedict's trip to Turkey (bolding mine):

In Turkey, however, the biggest splash came on Day 1, roughly a half-hour after the pope landed at the Ankara airport. In a closed-door meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had been among the most outspoken critics of Benedict XVI after the Regensburg speech, the pope indicated that he now smiles upon Turkey’s candidacy to join the European Union.

In reality, Erdogan probably engaged in a bit of spin with regard to the pope’s comments. It was Erdogan who told the press that the pope had endorsed Turkey’s EU bid, while the Vatican later clarified that the pope had not taken a political position for or against admission, but instead merely affirmed the country’s efforts at “dialogue and drawing close” to Europe.

Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Benedict XVI effectively disavowed his earlier position, expressed while still a cardinal, that Turkey is “in permanent contrast to Europe,” and that admitting it to the EU would further muddy the Christian roots of the continent.

Anyone familiar with even a smidgen of papal history knows that popes don’t often reverse field in quite so clear a fashion, [this is where I stopped reading] and the fact that Benedict did so right out of the gate crystallized the basic spirit of this Nov. 28-Dec. 1 trip, Benedict’s fifth as pope and his first to a majority Muslim state: No effort was spared to convince the Muslim world that “the pope of Regensburg,” depicted variously by Muslim critics as a neo-crusader and as the chaplain to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, is actually a friend.

I don't know if John Allen goes on to make some kind of point in his article and at this moment, I just don't really care.

I read an article someplace either yesterday or the day before about the Pope's language when he referenced the Armenian Genocide while visiting the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. Benedict didn't directly name the Genocide, but instead went with something like 'tragedy' (I forget now what words he used exactly). Some might call that being wishy-washy and wanting to be the friend of the Turks, but as the article pointed it, it was due to the fact that the Armenian Patriarchate contacted Rome before the visit to ask that Benedict not mention it. Since all those Armenians would have to deal with the Turkish backlash after the Pope went home if he had mentioned it directly.

Commentators out there can go on and on regarding Benedict XVI's actions during the trip and how he betrayed this or that position or he totally reversed himself, et cetera, et cetera. But moderation in what one says while being a stranger in a strange land =/= outright reversal of positions. Let's give Benedict some credit for showing some charity and humility while visiting a foreign land.

Readers: I need your help

Dear readers,

I have been busy lately, please excuse my absence. I will return shortly. But in the meantime, I need some help. This last week during the Pope's visit to Constantinople, I saw a picture of Hagia Sofia at a few different places online that I cannot remember now. The picture was a close up of the front of the church and the dome. The minarets were not visible on either side. The redness of the building was apparent. If you have any idea where I might have seen this picture, please let me know. I'd appreciate it.

In conclusion

The Holy Father has flown home after presiding over Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. Tomorrow evening is Vespers and the start of Advent, so Benedict won't get much of a break right away.

Vatican watchers, church commentators and everyone else though will have time to sit down and ponder what it all means as far as the trip to Turkey and its effect on Christian-Muslim and Catholic-Orthodox relations.

1. Christians and Muslims
When discussing the brief 'recollection' in the Blue Mosque and the cordial relations between the Pope and the Mufti, it's easy to forget that the Mufti was one of the sigers of the open leader to Benedict addressing the (in)famous lecture. The Mufti is one of the men who took the time to assess what the Pope was driving at and engage him on his own tersm. When looking at their meeting in the Blue Mosque, that kind of respect is something to keep in mind.

It's what they who don't especially like Benedict are going to do next that is important. Will Turkey get the message and allow more freedom of religion? Only time will tell. As Benedict in his writings has noted over and over again, dialogue is only worthwhile if there are concrete results. Otherwise it's just a lot of empty gestures.

2. Catholics and Orthodox
There are a lot more opportunities here for actual progress, but the stakes are also higher. If Christians and Muslims misstep, well... Sad, but not unexpected. On the other hand, the efforts of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches mean so much to the internal unity of the Body of Christ on Earth. Missteps here last for centuries and remain engraved in the collective memory of both churches.

Reading the outline at Patriarchate.org, it's clear that the meetings and discussions have reached the critical point: the primacy of the Pope. Bolding is mine.

1990 -- Work began by the Joint Coordinating Committee on the next common document in Moscow, Russia, “Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church”, but at the request of the Orthodox Church the discussions were stopped in order to address the question of “Uniatism”.

1993 – The Joint Commission issued the common document on “Uniatism: Method of Union of the Past, and Present. Search for Full Communion” (Balamand, Lebanon)

2000 – The Joint Commission met in Baltimore, U.S.A., and discussed a text on “ The Ecclesiological and Canonical Implications of Uniatism”.

2005 - The Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church agree to resume the theological dialogue.

2006 – The Joint Commission met in Belgrade, Serbia and discussed a text entitled: ”The Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Conciliarity and Authority in the Church”, at three levels of the Church’s life: local, regional and universal.

Only time will tell what the next entry to such an outline will look like. Let us pray it is a positive one.

Uhhh, right

John Allen posted this:

To date, the line on Benedict XVI has been that this is a pope of words, often set in contrast with John Paul II’s mastery of gestures and symbols. Joseph Ratzinger is possessed of an extraordinarily refined intellect, and his natural medium is indeed the written word. This is a pope, after all, who had penned some 60 books by the time of his election, to say nothing of countless essays, lectures, journal articles and scholarly monographs.

Does anyone else remember the talk of imagery when Benedict XVI met the representatives of the Muslim community during World Youth Day last year? I wrote:

At WYD 05 in Cologne, the Holy Father met the Muslim representatives in the unique setting of him sitting with a large cross behind him on the wall. The fact that he is now putting in place the personnel to ensure that his gestures become more than just gestures is heartening to see in a world where cartoons can spark so much destruction.

If you're not familiar with it, when Benedict XVI met with the Muslim representatives in Cologne during World Youth Day in 2005, he did so sitting in front of the group. Behind him on the wall was a really big cross. At the time, commentators noted the imagery of the Supreme Pontiff sitting under the Cross of Jesus and telling the locals 'this is how it is'.

John Allen does great on-the-scene reporting, but even he sometimes likes to perpetuate certain stereotypes just to have something to write about when 'the Wordsmith Pope' figures out how to use images.

Where is the Monolith?

The Dawn of Man
(according to Clarke and Kubrick)



Interfax has a commentary on the Pope's trip and its relationship to the rest of the Orthodox world. Though dated today (the 30th), it seems to have been written before the Pope left for Turkey.

The final paragraph (my bolding):

Meanwhile, the ecumenical vector of Benedict XVI’s policy seems to have grown ever more consistent after the first statement he made immediately after his election to the See of Rome, pledging to commit himself to the visible unity of Christian Churches. The Eastern Christian component of ecumenism appears to be a priority for the pope, who admitted a month ago a desire to bring nearer the moment of communion with the Orthodox Greeks. However, the historically establish multi-polar nature of the Orthodox world will demand that the Holy See elaborate as multi-component and multifaceted policy of relations with National Orthodox Churches. The meeting of the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Commission in September in Belgrade has reaffirmed that it is inadmissible to use uniform methods in the dialogue between the Roman Catholic West and the polycentric Orthodox East and that it is necessary to use individual reciprocal ways in every particular case. The Istanbul meeting between Benedict XVI and one of the Orthodox patriarchs, even if more ready than others to make a compromise on the issue of the papal primacy, will still remain a meeting between the leader of the Catholic world and the head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. And the opinion of the religious leader of a comparatively small Greek flock to be expressed in a future joint declaration made together with the Pope of Rome will never become, however strong the wish, a testimony to an ‘ecumenical breakthrough’ in the awareness of the millions-strong Orthodox world.

Elena ZHOSUL,
Interfax-Religion observer

The Divine Liturgy

I will spare you all from massive excerpts. Amy Welborn has them all and links to the associated texts that came out of the Divine Liturgy celebrated today.