Pope explains what will be the primacy of Rome in universal Church

Pope Francis and Phanar hierarch Job Getcha at a joint liturgy in St. Peter's Cathedral. Photo: Orthodox Time

After the liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where the delegates of the Church of Constantinople prayed together with the Catholic hierarchy, Pope Francis held a separate meeting with the bishops of the Phanar, at which he explained how he sees the status of the See of Rome in a church united with the Orthodox. The meeting report was published by the Vatican News resource.

The Pope expressed his joy at the outcome of the work of the Plenary Session of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in Alexandria, which resulted in a document on Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millennium and Today.

The pontiff stated that today “we are called to seek together a modality of exercising the primacy that, within the context of synodality, is at the service of the Church’s communion on the universal level.”

He explained that the prerogatives enjoyed by the Bishop of Rome "with regard to his own diocese and Catholic community" should not necessarily be extended to the Orthodox communities. He emphasized that when the Churches are "fully united in faith and love, the form in which the Bishop of Rome will exercise his service of communion in the Church at the universal level will have to be the result of an inseparable relationship between primacy and synodality."

The pope also declared that "complete unity will be a gift of the Holy Spirit, and is to be sought in the Spirit"; and must arise from "fraternal charity" among sisters and brothers who are "capable of setting their diversity within a larger context".

The pontiff concluded his speech with an assurance of prayers and asked the Phanariots, in turn, to pray for himself and his ministry to the effect that “through the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Andrew, brother of Peter, this encounter may be a further step along our journey towards visible unity in faith and love."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that according to the words of Patriarch Bartholomew addressed to the pope, Catholics and Orthodox should move towards complete unity.

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