Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 29, 2014 / 10:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a prayer gathering on the second day of Pope Francis' visit to Turkey, Patriarch Bartholomew I welcomed him with joy, saying his presence is a symbolic “bridging” of the East and West. “May these holy fathers, on whose teaching our common faith of the first millennium was founded, intercede for us to the Lord so that we may rediscover the full union of our Churches, thereby fulfilling His divine will in crucial times for humanity and the world,” Patriarch Bartholomew I said on Nov. 29. Directed toward Pope Francis, the speech took place during an ecumenical prayer gathering held at the Orthodox cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, after which the Pope and the Patriarch held a private meeting. Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed the Pope with “joy, honor and gratitude because you have deemed it proper to direct your steps from the Old Rome to the New Rome, symbolically bridging the West and the East through this movement.” Pope Francis’ visit, the first since his election to the “throne that ‘presides in love,’” serves as a continuation of his predecessors, Bl. Paul VI, St. John Paul II and retired pontiff Benedict XVI, the patriarch observed. He told the Pope that his visit “also bears witness to your own will and that of the most holy Church of Rome to maintain the fraternal and stable advance with the Orthodox Church for the restoration of full communion between our Churches.” The patriarch cited the Pope’s arrival as a historical moment marked with “satisfaction and appreciation,” and noted how throughout time the cathedral has been and still is served by strong ecclesiastical figures who have “brightened” it alongside the many fathers of the universal Church. Saints Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom are among these Church fathers, he said, observing now their relics reside inside of the cathedral “thanks to their gracious return to the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Church of Rome.” Patriarch Bartholomew offered the Bishop of Rome “fervent thanks” for the fraternal gesture of returning the relics to the Church of Constantinople, and prayed that the saints would intercede for the unity off their churches. He quoted St. John Chrysostom, saying “This is what ultimately holds the faithful together and upholds love; indeed, this is precisely why Christ said that we should be one,” and prayed that the visit would help increase their fraternal relations. In his brief speech to the patriarch during the prayer gathering, Pope Francis said that he had mixed feelings, one being a heart “full of gratitude” to God for allowing the encounter of their churches, as well as hope and anticipation for the Feast of St. Andrew, the celebration of which is a key reason for his visit. The pontiff referred to the words spoken by Zachariah in scripture, noting how “Lord gives us anew in this evening prayer, the foundation that sustains our moving forward from one day to the next, the solid rock upon which we advance together in joy and hope.” And the foundation rock, he said, is the Lord’s promise to save his people from all countries in the east and west in both faithfulness and righteousness. Pope Francis gave heartfelt thanks to the patriarch for his “fraternal welcome,” and observed how the joy they share is always greater not because it comes from themselves, but from above. “It is not in us, not in our commitment, not in our efforts that are certainly necessary but in our shared trust in God’s faithfulness which lays the foundation for the reconstruction of his temple that is the Church.” The apostles Andrew and Peter also heard this promise and received the same gift, the Pope said, explaining that although they were already blood brothers, their encounter with Christ made them brothers in faith and charity as well. He explained that through Christ the apostles also became brothers in hope, and told Patriarch Bartholomew that it is a great grace “to be brothers in the hope of the Risen Lord!” “What a grace, and what a responsibility, to walk together in this hope, sustained by the intercession of the holy Apostles and brothers, Andrew and Peter!” he said, and emphasized again that this hope can never deceive, because it is founded upon God’s faithfulness rather than “our poor efforts.” After offering his personal best wishes to the church of Constantinople for the feast of their founder and patron, St. Andrew, the pontiff asked the patriarch’s blessing. “I ask you for a favor: to bless me and the Church of Rome,” the Pope said, and began to kneel before being embraced by the Patriarch, who traced the sign of the cross on the pontiff’s head and kissed it. Pope Francis will conclude his trip to Turkey tomorrow after celebrating the Divine Liturgy alongside the patriarch and signing a joint declaration with him in the morning. After eating lunch with Patriarch Bartholomew, the Pope will meet students who attend the Don Bosco center for refugees at the apostolic nunciature before heading to the airport to return to Rome. Read more

Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 29, 2014 / 08:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During the only public Mass of his three-day apostolic journey to Turkey, Pope Francis warned that unity without the Holy Spirit stays limited within human plans and falls into mere uniformity. Celebrating the Mass in the Salesian-run Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul, Pope Francis began his reflection Saturday by turning to the day's Gospel reading from John, in which Jesus speaks of himself as “the font from which those who thirst for salvation draw.” In this passage, Jesus refers to “the gift of the Holy Spirit” given to the disciples after Christ's death and resurrection. “The Church’s whole life and mission depend on the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said. Saturday's Mass was celebrated hours after Pope Francis arrived in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, on day-two of Nov. 28-30 journey to the nation. It was attended by Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, with whom the Holy Father will meet later in the day. Earlier in the day, the Pope made a visit to the city's iconic “Blue Mosque,” followed by the Saint Sophia museum. Citing the day's first reading taken from Saint Paul to the Corinthians, the Holy Father said the “the profession of faith itself... is only possible because it is prompted by the Holy Spirit.” The movement to pray, to encounter others, to forgive and to love, he said, “it is the Spirit who has taken hold of us.” Although the charisms which the Holy Spirit “brings forth” in the Church may at first appear to “create disorder,” he said, they in fact “constitute an immense richness, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity. Pope Francis made the distinction between “unity”, which can only be brought about through the Holy Spirit, and “uniformity.” “When we try to create unity through our own human designs, we end up with uniformity and  homogenization.” On the other hand, the Holy Father continued, “if we let ourselves be led by the Spirit, however, richness, variety and diversity will never create conflict, because the Spirit spurs us to experience variety in the communion of the Church.” Pope Francis spoke of the constant temptation “to resist the Holy Spirit,” who “takes us out of our comfort zone and unsettles us,” and “makes us get up and drives the Church forward.” “In truth, the Church shows her fidelity to the Holy Spirit in as much as she does not try to control or tame him.” As Christians, he said, we “become true missionary disciples, able to challenge consciences, when we throw off our defensiveness and allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit.”   These “defensive mechanisms,” whereby we become “entrenched within our ideas and our own strengths,” impede understanding and “sincere dialogue” with others. “But the Church, flowing from Pentecost, is given the fire of the Holy Spirit, which does not so much fill the mind with ideas, but enflames the heart,” Pope Francis said. Rather, “she is moved by the breath of the Spirit which does not transmit a power, but rather an ability to serve in love, a language which everyone is able to understand.” Pope Francis concluded his homily by invoking the Virgin Mary who awaited Pentecost in the Upper Room alongside the Apostles. “Let us pray to the Lord asking him to send his Holy Spirit into our hearts and to make us witnesses of his Gospel in all the world.” Read more