Vatican City, Jun 19, 2009 / 08:49 am
On Friday morning, Pope Benedict XVI received the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church at the Vatican. The meeting served as an opportunity for the Holy Father to emphasize the unity of the Roman and Syriac traditions.
His Beatitude Ignace Youssif III Younan was elected as the new Catholic patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians just this past January by the Syriac Church's synod in Rome.
"Divine Providence," Pope Benedict remarked, "has made us ministers of Christ and shepherds of His one flock. ...
The Church led by the patriarch follows the traditions of the Eastern rite and is nourished by teachings of the Church Fathers St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Ephrem, among others.
Recalling that “Christ Himself, our Lord, appointed the Apostle Peter as the 'rock' upon which He founded the spiritual edifice of the Church,” Benedict XVI noted that the Syriac Church has brought its Eastern traditions in a complementary way to its “communion with the Bishop of Rome.”