Vatican City, Jun 27, 2017 / 15:12 pm
Pope Francis met with a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, saying their journey toward full communion is one that ought to respect their unique traditions – rather than a uniformity that would, in the end, make the Church more boring.
"Peter and Paul, as disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ, served the Lord in very different ways," the Pope said June 27.
"Yet in their diversity, both bore witness to the merciful love of God our Father, which each in his own fashion profoundly experienced, even to the sacrifice of his own life."
Because of this, since ancient times the Church in the East and in the West has celebrated the feast of the two Apostles together, he said, adding that it is right to jointly commemorate "their self-sacrifice for love of the Lord, for it is at the same time a commemoration of unity and diversity."