NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

THE POPE'S DAY, 6/23/08

---

The Holy Father met today with
- His Highness Fra’ Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta,
with his delegation
- Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
- Mons. Francesco Monterisi, Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops
- Mons. Anselmo Guido Pecorari, Apostolic Nuncio in Uruguay.

---

POPE MEETS NEW COMMANDER
OF THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA










SOLEMN VESPERS TO INAUGURATE PAULINE YEAR
WITH PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW ATTENDING




The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announced today that Benedict XVI will preside at first Vespers at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, to inaugurate the Pauline Year (2008-2009) in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.

The ceremony will be attended by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and by representatives of other Churches and Christian communities.


=====================================================================


It's hard not to draw the obvious contrast between the attitudes of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople - first among equals among the Orthodox Primates, being the Patriarch of Constantinople, which is historically the original seat of the Orthodox Church - and Patriarch Alexei-II of Moscow, which is ranked fifth in historical precedence among the Orthodox world's 'autocephalous' (usually national) churches. [What he vaunts is numbers - the Russian Church has almost as many members as all the other Orthodox Churches combined, but the Church hierarchy does not depend on numbers!]

Since inviting Pope Benedict to Istanbul in November 2006, Bartholomew has met him twice in Italy (in Naples last October and in the Vatican earlier this year). Of course, he has a 'direct' interest in the Pauline Year celebration because Paul was born in Tarsus which is in present-day Turkey and did important missionary work in Asia Minor, also now part of modern Turkey.

Still, we have Alexei-II who will not even consider a meeting with Benedict XVI unless there is something 'substantive' to announce on a rapprochement between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox positions about eventual Christian reunification.

But why must a meeting be tied to such a condition? What is wrong with just meeting as a gesture of goodwill - as most diplomatic meetings generally are?

Alexei-II refused to consider such a meeting with John Paul II because, it is said, of historic Russian mistrust of the Poles. That was a most unfortunate projection of historic grievances onto the person of John Paul II.

Now, his pretext for refusing to meet Benedict is that there is nothing 'substantive' to announce about Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations. But that may never come about in his lifetime, because he's been throwing down all sorts of obstacles, imagined and otherwise, to rapprochement.

Benedict XVI has met with the Archbishop of Canterbury at least twice - and no one was under any illusion that the meetings were anything more than friendly occasions, and not because Catholics and Anglicans have come any closer to reunification.

So why does Alexei-II - if he feels so strongly against seeing the Pope, any Pope, in Moscow, as if it was a challenge to the Russian Orthodox Church - not consider at least meeting Benedict on neutral ground, as has been speculated about, purely as a gesture of goodwill - and make that very clear from the start?

I don't think the Russian Orthodox faithful would consider that he is giving up something, much less betraying the Russian Orthodox faith, simply by meeting the Pope. One has to conclude there is no good will on his part, despite all the lip service, which is usually of the 'one step forwar5d, two steps back' kind!

I have to check back to see whether Bartholomew came to Rome for teh 2000 Jubilee of Christianity, but I don't have to check to know that Alexei-II would not have considered the second millenary anniversary of the Birth of Christ important enough to have come to Rome to join the celebrations, especially since they were led by John Paul II.