Vatican City, Nov 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Pope John Paul II manifested his desire for Christian unity when he handed over the relics of Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Gregory Nazianzen to the Orthodox Ecumentical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.
In his message to the Patriarch, the “first among equals” of the Orthodox Churches, the Pope said that the return of the relics to the See of Constantinople is "a blessed opportunity to purify our wounded memories, to reinforce our path of reconciliation."
Now, continued the Pope’s messge, is the "propitious moment" to pray so that God "will hasten the hour in which we will be able to live together, in the celebration of the holy Eucharist, full communion, and thus contribute in a more effective manner to make the world believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord."
"I will never cease to seek firmly and determinedly this communion among the disciples of Christ,” stated the Pope in his message, “as my desire, in response to the will of the Lord, consists in being servant of communion 'in truth and in love.'"