Pope's ecumenical visit to Turkey

Wise people say that a long journey starts with the first step. This very encouraging axiom surely applies also to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey (November 28-December 1).

At this stage one can sagely say that the first real step for this very important visit took place on December 15, 2005 when the Holy Father received in audience members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

On this historic occasion Pope Benedict told the members of this commission: "The resumption of dialogue occurs subsequent to an inter-Orthodox agreement, of which His Holiness Bartholomew I informed the Catholic Church. Thus, it is especially important and constitutes a great responsibility; indeed, it is a question of doing the will of the Lord, who wants his disciples to form a harmonious community and to witness together to the brotherly love that comes from the Lord."

The Holy Father exhorted all those present in clear terms: "In this new phase of dialogue, two aspects are to be envisaged together: on the one hand, the elimination of divergences that still exist, and on the other hand, to have as it were the fundamental desire to spare no effort to re-establish full communion, an essential good for the community of Christ's disciples, as the preparatory for your work has stressed."

The Holy Father pointed out that "full communion aims at a communion of truth and charity. We cannot be satisfied with remaining at intermediate stages but must ceaselessly and with courage, lucidity and humility, seek the will of Jesus Christ even if it does not correspond to our simple human projects."

All people of good will who seriously follow the course of ecumenism between Christian faith are appreciative of the untiring efforts of Pope John Paul II and of Pope Benedict XVI in this direction. Both stress repeatedly that the achievement of full unity of the Church comes at the price of submission of our own wills to the Lord's will. As Benedict XVI said in the audience of December 2005 "if we are to progress on this Journey of unity, our own feeble forces do not suffice".

As to the perfect timing of Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey, as far as ecumenism is concerned, surely both the Holy Father and the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, wanted this visit to Turkey would take place on the feast of St Andrew (November 30), patron of the patriarchate.

An Orthodox delegation travels to Rome for its annual visit on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29), patrons of the Holy See.

Much to his credit, Benedict XVI has planned to visit Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul, on the occasion of the feast of St Andrew. Surely his visit to Turkey is primarily intended to resume talks between Rome and the Orthodox Church in earnest.

In June 2002, John Paul II had told a delegation from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches must return to the theological dialogue that had been stalled for more than a decade.

Following in the steps of his great predecessor John Paul, Pope Benedict has once more made it clear that Catholic-Orthodox co-operation in building mutual respect, promoting peace and safeguarding the environment are important, but they are not the aim of ecumenical dialogue: full unity is! The Holy Father has repeatedly said that dialogue among Christians must proceed "with love for the truth, with charity and with humility" so that doctrinal purity may be preserved.