Paul vi et athenagoras biography

In January , two Christian prelates broke a silence of centuries with a simple gesture of embrace and a few gentle words. A little-noticed historic meeting in Jerusalem between Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI reflected the simple dominical prayer and commandment by Christ "that His disciples may be one" John You must remember that it has been five hundred and twenty-five years since we have spoken to one another!

Good morning. Thus it was that, in the brief space of less than forty-eight hours, from January , , His Holiness the late Pope Paul commenced a historical visit to the Holy Land, establishing a tradition subsequently honored by his successors.

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It was the first time a Roman pontiff traveled abroad for over a century, the first time a Roman pontiff flew in an airplane, and the first time a Roman pontiff visited Jerusalem. The Pope's journey, however, was much more than a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the focal point of reverence and travel for adherents of all the Abrahamic faiths.

Christian leaders and faithful have visited Jerusalem since at least the fourth century, encouraged by the holy Emperor Constantine and his saintly mother Helen, recognizing its association with the early apostles, saints and martyrs but most especially its significance as the place where God's feet once walked when His Word assumed flesh and dwelt among us.

Nevertheless, the "pilgrim pope" was also the "ecumenical pope" inasmuch as his historical visit was a unique occasion for an extraordinary and pioneering encounter with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, not only did Pope Paul bring a successful conclusion to the revolutionary Second Vatican Council in , but he also brought to fruition and realization the ecumenical overture to the Orthodox Christian Church.

It was the first time the Western pontiff and the Eastern primate — the universal leader of the Western Church and the spiritual leader of the Eastern Church, the Pope of Rome and the Archbishop of New Rome — met face-to-face since at the Council of Florence.

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And the venue for the encounter was on the Mount of Olives, the very place where our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great High-Priest, addressed His Father on the night of His betrayal for the unity of His followers, boldly and passionately praying that "His disciples may be one," ut unum sint. John Prior to this groundbreaking meeting of the two prelates fifty years ago, for many centuries the Eastern and Western Churches were not in formal contact and shared very little official communication, especially after what became known as the Great Schism of There were two brief occasions of encounter and dialogue regarding reunification during the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, but these left behind feelings of bitterness rather than hopefulness, at least for the Orthodox Christians of the East.

The estrangement was of course markedly accentuated and apparent after the tragic events of the Crusades in the late twelfth-early thirteenth century.