As historic Church document comes to new light, Pope Benedict invites Greek patriarch to Vatican, encourages further unity

Vatican City, Nov 16, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In an historic event yesterday in Athens, Greece, Vatican archivist and librarian, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, officially announced the new publication of the ancient manuscript, "Menologue of Basil II," currently being held at the Vatican’s Apostolic Library.

The Vatican reported today that the Menologue is a liturgical or hagiographic text of the Church of Greek rite, dating from 985.

Pope Benedict XVI sent a message to Cardinal Tauran, noting that he "learned with interest of the collaboration between the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Greek Orthodox Church for the publication" of this work of art.

Pope Benedict also asked Cardinal Tauran to express his personal gratitude to His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and of all Greece for his assistance in bringing this historic work to new light.

The Holy Father offered his “fraternal and cordial greetings,” to Archbishop Christodoulos, and expressed “great satisfaction for this important event.”
 
Specifically, he called it “fruit of the new relations established following the unforgettable visit to Athens by my venerable predecessor, His Holiness John Paul II, on the occasion of his Jubilee pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul the Apostle.”

“With joy”, the Pope noted the growth of “ever more active cooperation between the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church."

"On this occasion," he continued in his Message to the cardinal, "I charge you to inform His Beatitude Christodoulos that it would be a joy for me to welcome him in Rome, so that together we may show that another stage has been covered on the journey of reconciliation and cooperation.”

He also expressed his “heartfelt desire to develop ever more intense relations of trust and fraternity, in order to carry out many works of evangelization together.”

“Among other things,” the pope highlighted, “we could give European nations greater help in reaffirming their Christian roots, to find that nourishing and fruitful sap for their own future and for the good of people and of all society.”

“It will be a way to announce together the Good News of Christ to the modern world, which needs it so badly."

This hoped-for unity, Pope Benedict said, "will also give an ever stronger response to the ardent desire expressed by the Lord: 'May all be one," until the day comes ... when we can celebrate fully restored communion."