25 May 2014: "In this regard, we invite all Christians to promote an
authentic dialogue with Judaism, Islam and other religious traditions.
Indifference and mutual ignorance can only lead to mistrust and
unfortunately even conflict."
30 November 2014: "Muslims and Christians are called to work together for
the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every
person, especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in
peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war"

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO TURKEY
(28-30 NOVEMBER 2014)
ECUMENICAL BLESSING AND SIGNING OF THE COMMON DECLARATION
Istanbul
Sunday, 30 November 2014
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/november/documents/papa-francesco_20141130_turchia-firma-dichiarazione.html

We, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, express our
profound gratitude to God for the gift of this new encounter enabling us, in
the presence of the members of the Holy Synod, the clergy and the faithful
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to celebrate together the feast of Saint
Andrew, the first–called and brother of the Apostle Peter. Our remembrance
of the Apostles, who proclaimed the good news of the Gospel to the world
through their preaching and their witness of martyrdom, strengthens in us
the aspiration to continue to walk together in order to overcome, in love
and in truth, the obstacles that divide us.

On the occasion of our meeting in Jerusalem last May, in which we remembered
the historical embrace of our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and the
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, we signed a joint declaration. Today on
the happy occasion of this further fraternal encounter, we wish to re–affirm
together our shared intentions and concerns.

We express our sincere and firm resolution, in obedience to the will of our
Lord Jesus Christ, to intensify our efforts to promote the full unity of all
Christians, and above all between Catholics and Orthodox. As well, we intend
to support the theological dialogue promoted by the Joint International
Commission, instituted exactly thirty–five years ago by the Ecumenical
Patriarch Dimitrios and Pope John Paul II here at the Phanar, and which is
currently dealing with the most difficult questions that have marked the
history of our division and that require careful and detailed study. To this
end, we offer the assurance of our fervent prayer as Pastors of the Church,
asking our faithful to join us in praying “that all may be one, that the
world may believe” (Jn 17:21).

We express our common concern for the current situation in Iraq, Syria and
the whole Middle East. We are united in the desire for peace and stability
and in the will to promote the resolution of conflicts through dialogue and
reconciliation. While recognizing the efforts already being made to offer
assistance to the region, at the same time, we call on all those who bear
responsibility for the destiny of peoples to deepen their commitment to
suffering communities, and to enable them, including the Christian ones, to
remain in their native land. We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East
without Christians, who have professed the name of Jesus there for two
thousand years. Many of our brothers and sisters are being persecuted and
have been forced violently from their homes. It even seems that the value of
human life has been lost, that the human person no longer matters and may be
sacrificed to other interests. And, tragically, all this is met by the
indifference of many. As Saint Paul reminds us, “If one member suffers, all
suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together” (1 Cor
12:26). This is the law of the Christian life, and in this sense we can say
that there is also an ecumenism of suffering. Just as the blood of the
martyrs was a seed of strength and fertility for the Church, so too the
sharing of daily sufferings can become an effective instrument of unity. The
terrible situation of Christians and all those who are suffering in the
Middle East calls not only for our constant prayer, but also for an
appropriate response on the part of the international community.

The grave challenges facing the world in the present situation require the
solidarity of all people of good will, and so we also recognize the
importance of promoting a constructive dialogue with Islam based on mutual
respect and friendship. Inspired by common values and strengthened by
genuine fraternal sentiments, Muslims and Christians are called to work
together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and
rights of every person, especially in those regions where they once lived
for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the
horrors of war. Moreover, as Christian leaders, we call on all religious
leaders to pursue and to strengthen interreligious dialogue and to make
every effort to build a culture of peace and solidarity between persons and
between peoples. We also remember all the people who experience the
sufferings of war. In particular, we pray for peace in Ukraine, a country of
ancient Christian tradition, while we call upon all parties involved to
pursue the path of dialogue and of respect for international law in order to
bring an end to the conflict and allow all Ukrainians to live in harmony.

Our thoughts turn to all the faithful of our Churches throughout the world,
whom we greet, entrusting them to Christ our Saviour, that they may be
untiring witnesses to the love of God. We raise our fervent prayer that the
Lord may grant the gift of peace in love and unity to the entire human
family.

“May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you” (2 Thess 3:16).

From the Phanar, 30 November 2014
===========
PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY
OF THE MEETING BETWEEN POPE PAUL VI AND PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS IN JERUSALEM
(24-26 MAY 2014)

PRIVATE MEETING WITH THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

COMMON DECLARATION OF POPE FRANCIS
AND THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I

Apostolic Delegation (Jerusalem)
Sunday, 25 May 2014
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/may/documents/papa-francesco_20140525_terra-santa-dichiarazione-congiunta.html


1. Like our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch
Athenagoras who met here in Jerusalem fifty years ago, we too, Pope Francis
and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, were determined to meet in the Holy
Land “where our common Redeemer, Christ our Lord, lived, taught, died, rose
again, and ascended into Heaven, whence he sent the Holy Spirit on the
infant Church” (Common communiqué of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras,
published after their meeting of 6 January 1964). Our meeting, another
encounter of the Bishops of the Churches of Rome and Constantinople founded
respectively by the two Brothers the Apostles Peter and Andrew, is a source
of profound spiritual joy for us. It presents a providential occasion to
reflect on the depth and the authenticity of our existing bonds, themselves
the fruit of a grace-filled journey on which the Lord has guided us since
that blessed day of fifty years ago.

2. Our fraternal encounter today is a new and necessary step on the journey
towards the unity to which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of
communion in legitimate diversity. We call to mind with profound gratitude
the steps that the Lord has already enabled us to undertake. The embrace
exchanged between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras here in Jerusalem,
after many centuries of silence, paved the way for a momentous gesture, the
removal from the memory and from the midst of the Church of the acts of
mutual excommunication in 1054. This was followed by an exchange of visits
between the respective Sees of Rome and Constantinople, by regular
correspondence and, later, by the decision announced by Pope John Paul II
and Patriarch Dimitrios, of blessed memory both, to initiate a theological
dialogue of truth between Catholics and Orthodox. Over these years, God, the
source of all peace and love, has taught us to regard one another as members
of the same Christian family, under one Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and
to love one another, so that we may confess our faith in the same Gospel of
Christ, as received by the Apostles and expressed and transmitted to us by
the Ecumenical Councils and the Church Fathers. While fully aware of not
having reached the goal of full communion, today we confirm our commitment
to continue walking together towards the unity for which Christ our Lord
prayed to the Father so “that all may be one” (Jn 17:21).

3. Well aware that unity is manifested in love of God and love of neighbour,
we look forward in eager anticipation to the day in which we will finally
partake together in the Eucharistic banquet. As Christians, we are called to
prepare to receive this gift of Eucharistic communion, according to the
teaching of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon (Against Heresies, IV,18,5, PG 7,1028),
through the confession of the one faith, persevering prayer, inner
conversion, renewal of life and fraternal dialogue. By achieving this hoped
for goal, we will manifest to the world the love of God by which we are
recognized as true disciples of Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 13:35).

4. To this end, the theological dialogue undertaken by the Joint
International Commission offers a fundamental contribution to the search for
full communion among Catholics and Orthodox. Throughout the subsequent times
of Popes John Paul II and Benedict the XVI, and Patriarch Dimitrios, the
progress of our theological encounters has been substantial. Today we
express heartfelt appreciation for the achievements to date, as well as for
the current endeavours. This is no mere theoretical exercise, but an
exercise in truth and love that demands an ever deeper knowledge of each
other’s traditions in order to understand them and to learn from them. Thus
we affirm once again that the theological dialogue does not seek a
theological lowest common denominator on which to reach a compromise, but is
rather about deepening one’s grasp of the whole truth that Christ has given
to his Church, a truth that we never cease to understand better as we follow
the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Hence, we affirm together that our
faithfulness to the Lord demands fraternal encounter and true dialogue. Such
a common pursuit does not lead us away from the truth; rather, through an
exchange of gifts, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will lead us
into all truth (cf. Jn 16:13).

5. Yet even as we make this journey towards full communion we already have
the duty to offer common witness to the love of God for all people by
working together in the service of humanity, especially in defending the
dignity of the human person at every stage of life and the sanctity of
family based on marriage, in promoting peace and the common good, and in
responding to the suffering that continues to afflict our world. We
acknowledge that hunger, poverty, illiteracy, the inequitable distribution
of resources must constantly be addressed. It is our duty to seek to build
together a just and humane society in which no-one feels excluded or
emarginated.

6. It is our profound conviction that the future of the human family depends
also on how we safeguard – both prudently and compassionately, with justice
and fairness – the gift of creation that our Creator has entrusted to us.
Therefore, we acknowledge in repentance the wrongful mistreatment of our
planet, which is tantamount to sin before the eyes of God. We reaffirm our
responsibility and obligation to foster a sense of humility and moderation
so that all may feel the need to respect creation and to safeguard it with
care. Together, we pledge our commitment to raising awareness about the
stewardship of creation; we appeal to all people of goodwill to consider
ways of living less wastefully and more frugally, manifesting less greed and
more generosity for the protection of God’s world and the benefit of His
people.

7. There is likewise an urgent need for effective and committed cooperation
of Christians in order to safeguard everywhere the right to express publicly
one’s faith and to be treated fairly when promoting that which Christianity
continues to offer to contemporary society and culture. In this regard, we
invite all Christians to promote an authentic dialogue with Judaism, Islam
and other religious traditions. Indifference and mutual ignorance can only
lead to mistrust and unfortunately even conflict.

8. From this holy city of Jerusalem, we express our shared profound concern
for the situation of Christians in the Middle East and for their right to
remain full citizens of their homelands. In trust we turn to the almighty
and merciful God in a prayer for peace in the Holy Land and in the Middle
East in general. We especially pray for the Churches in Egypt, Syria, and
Iraq, which have suffered most grievously due to recent events. We encourage
all parties regardless of their religious convictions to continue to work
for reconciliation and for the just recognition of peoples’ rights. We are
persuaded that it is not arms, but dialogue, pardon and reconciliation that
are the only possible means to achieve peace.

9. In an historical context marked by violence, indifference and egoism,
many men and women today feel that they have lost their bearings. It is
precisely through our common witness to the good news of the Gospel that we
may be able to help the people of our time to rediscover the way that leads
to truth, justice and peace. United in our intentions, and recalling the
example, fifty years ago here in Jerusalem, of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch
Athenagoras, we call upon all Christians, together with believers of every
religious tradition and all people of good will, to recognize the urgency of
the hour that compels us to seek the reconciliation and unity of the human
family, while fully respecting legitimate differences, for the good of all
humanity and of future generations.

10. In undertaking this shared pilgrimage to the site where our one same
Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and rose again, we humbly commend to
the intercession of the Most Holy and Ever Virgin Mary our future steps on
the path towards the fullness of unity, entrusting to God’s infinite love
the entire human family. “ May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be
gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Num
6:25-26).

Jerusalem, 25 May 2014