Today History has been written: Pope meets in Havana Patriarch of all Russia first time ever.

The Peace of God to all that belong to the Light,
Dear Readers,

This was the Longley wished but never achieved dream of H.H. Pope John Paul II along his 19 years of Pontificate as a head of the Roman Apostolic Catholic Christan Church, to be able to be the first Patriarch of the West to meet the Patriarch of all Russia.

Cardinal Karol Wojtila, who was the first Pope ever elected from a Slavic country, being Polish born but also son of a Lithuanian woman, tried in multiple occasions to arrive to a deal on a possible meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow, the most important of all the different principalities that constitute part of the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith.

During the Perestroika and Glasnost era President of USSR Mikhail Gorbachev after to have met the Pope in the Vatican city by December of 1989 extended a formal invitation to the Polish Pope to visit Moscow, but unfortunately the will of Rome to include a visit to Vilnius, Lithuania, jeopardized an opportunity that was never before repeated again during his pontificate.

www.nytimes.com...

www.youtube.com...

H.H. Pope Benedict XVI did also a lot to approach the Russian Orthodox Church during his 8 years of Pontificate, including his meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Holy see by March of 2007.

www.cbsnews.com...

www.gettyimages.com...

This was part of the multiple efforts made by Catholicism to heal the huge division created in between East and western rites of Apostolic Christianism.

These initiatives can be traced back to the time of H.H. Pope Paul VI who agreed the removal of the mutual excommunication among the two worlds occurred in the 1050 year, this as a consequence of the spirit of reunion of the Historic meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Istanbul in Jerusalem on January of 1964.

americamagazine.org...

In 1967 both Patriachs of the west and the east signed a common declaration advocating for the world peace, that was the first one in between the maximum religious leaders of the west and east.

www.vatican.va...

Today finally H.H. Pope Francis I is meeting the Patriarch of Moscow Kiril in La Havana, Cuba in the first stop of his trip to Latin America which principal destination is Mexico.


edition.cnn.com...

Cuba is in this way paying back to the Pope the great diplomatic work that he did in order to formalize the diplomatic relationships in between the United States and Cuba, just restablished in 2015.

This is a day of joy and celebration for the Christendom, since it is a great step forward in the reunification of all the Christians of the world under only one single communion and faith following what was the will of Jesus Christ who founded only one universal church to follow his teachings.

Thanks for your attention,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light
Is the Pope recorded as saying "I now renounce all attempts on the part of the Papacy to claim exclusive authority over the church of Christ"? That would be good news, certainly.
Otherwise, unity designed on papal terms would not be a lesser evil than disunity.

Very interesting and thank you for sharing. In my understanding, the true eastern counterpart of Pope Francis I is this man, Bartholomew I of Constantinople (now Istanbul).

He attended the Papal inauguration of Pope Francis on 19 March 2013, paving the way for better Catholic–Orthodox relations. It was the first time that the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians had attended a papal inauguration since the Great Schism in 1054.[20][21] After, he invited Pope Francis to travel with him to the Holy Land in 2014 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the embrace between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. Pope Francis was also invited to the Patriarchate for the feast day of Saint Andrew (30 November).[22]

a reply to: DISRAELI

Well H.H. Pope Benedict XVI expressed openly and officially that it is not the intention of the Catholic Church to carry out evangelization in Russian Territory, that Catholicism recognize the Russian Orthodox Church as the official and legit continuator of the Apostolic Christian Tradition in that country.

Please read:

wdtprs.com...

wdtprs.com...

That is without doubt far more diplomatic, decidedly more respectful and also acceptable attitude in the eyes of millions of Russians than the bold wave of missionary expansion of many protestant sects , especially American ones, that from the west in a very aggressive way have tried in the last 30 years to convert the Orthodox world to their sphere of influence.

H.H. Benedict XVI gained with this decision to declare that Russia is not territory of Catholic missionary activity a lot of respectability from the Hierarchs of the Orthodox world for this fair attitude of respect that showed that the intention to get reunion in mutual respectful terms is sincere and genuine.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

originally posted by: The angel of light
Well H.H. Pope Benedict XVI expressed openly and officially that it is not the intention of the Catholic Church to carry out evangelization in Russian Territory, that Catholicism recognize the Russian Orthodox Church as the official and legit continuator of the Apostolic Christian Tradition in that country.

Excellent. Now if someone would only go further and accept the Protestant churches as legitimate continuators of Christian tradition, not needing Catholic evangelization, that would be even better.

a reply to: meridie

Dear Meridie,

Since the times of St. Vladmir the Great, first Tsar of all Russias ( Ukraine, Belarus and Muscovy Principality) , who married the daughter of the last Byzantine Emperor, and converted to Christianism, it is clear that Russia is the legit continuator of that Empire and so it is in practice its Patriarch the most important of the Orthodox European ones.

Please read:

en.wikipedia.org...

www.britannica.com...

The Patriarchy of Istanbul is theoretically the most Historic and also the originator of the Christian Orthodox world, but his importance is symbolic and also relative, he is considered First among equals, since anyway although it is true that his see corresponds to the historic archbishopric of Constantinople, that was once the heart of the Byzantine Empire, after the Islamization of Turkey he became a Christian leader inside the Muslim world.

It is really Moscow the biggest among all the Orthodox Patriarchies in the world, with about more than 110 millions of Christians, and its influence reaches from Eastern Europe, along all Siberia toward the Far East.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: DISRAELI

Again Dear DISRAELI,

H. H. Pope Benedict XVI visited in his trip to his native land Germany the tomb of the Reformer Martin Luther, as well as the monastery of Efurt, where he launched his so famous theses. He showed comprehension and respect to a man that in the XVI century was declared by H.H. Pope Leon X as Heretic.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

The openness of the Previous Pope was such that there were even rumors that he was possibly considered to rehabiliate him, but that was never carried out or officially declared, it was more a formal recognition that in what ever way we think about Luther his time was not easy and there were also things running bad in the Church that triggered his attitude.

christopherblosser.blogspot.com...

Martin Luther was originally a Doctor in Theology of the Catholic Church and member of the Augustine Order, and even today Historians have not yet agreed if he really wanted to lead a Schism of the Christendom or just to motivate an internal reform.

www.acommonword.com...

This was an act in the way of reconciliation that was poorly advertised in the American media strongly controlled by people very in the line of Protestant fundamentalist groups.

Nevertheless, there were Protestants in Germany that understood the sincerely of his action, and welcomed the message of reconciliation.

www.catholicworldreport.com...


Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

Thank you. Not claiming to be any kind of authority on Eastern Orthodoxy. I just find Patriarch Bartholomew I's position, unique and very compelling.

a reply to: The angel of light
Even better, but this change of attitude has not yet filtered down to some of the Catholics who post on ATS. Until that aggressive "You are not in the church unless you accept the Pope's authority" stance disappears, non-Catholics will want to keep at arms length away from the Catholic community.

Reject Unam sanctam. It's a start.

a reply to: kenzohattori69

That does not look to be a really positive post, why to continue with confrontation and antagonism when it is a Christian virtue forgiveness and reconciliation?

Just some years ago H.H. Pope Francis I expressed in his visitation to the ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch of Istanbul his sincere intention to meet the Russian Patriarch Kyril, but also his frustration to have found so many obstacles to achieve this so longely wished dream of many of his predecessors, especially H.H. Pope John Paul II.

Today the dream is going to become reality, curiously neither in the Holy see or in Moscow, it is going to be in the least expected place, in a Caribbean Island, In La Habana, Cuba.

This is a great opportunity for the world peace so concerned of the cruel war in Ukraine, I think all that are really in favor of a fair peace in Justice for all must see this with hope.

www.usatoday.com...#

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

It is an affront to my choice of baptism that I reject. It is obviously ludicrous for a world leader to claim responsibility for my soul. And a negation of Christ's word.

And roughly how many shekels did the "catholic" church make off of WWII? I'd be willing to bet more than you'll ever know.

a reply to: kenzohattori69

What ever you feel about your baptism is of course respectful, as part of the individual freedom of concious, but I believe here we are talking about something at an entirely different level, the topic of the thread attains to the world peace, so personal considerations must be put in a secondary level.

The priority of the moment is to see the spiritual leaders of the world to work together and find effective ways to stop the madness that has been triggered by the collision of spheres of influence of the super powers in eastern Europe, for who is controlling Ukraine.



Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

Who among us is strong enough to wage war with the beast? Just another "catholic" deception, deflection, distraction. Call it what you will. Where are they meeting, the Bay of Pigs?

a reply to: kenzohattori69

I see that you definitively insist to try to move the thread in to other very different topic.

First at all this is a conjugate effort of two Christian Organizations, it is not just Catholic, that it is my impression is not your favorite one. I feel too much resentment from your side against it.

Second the place of meetings has nothing to do with the place you have mentioned, it is in the International Airport Jose Marti of La Havana, Cuba.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: DISRAELI

Yes, unfortunately each church has its own source of fundamentlism, and sometimes there are Catholics that instead to try to heal the injuries of the past try to fire them even more.

I think it is important to clarify that there is right now a misinformation circulating in the western media that is covering the event. Although I am not quite sure that this comes from Catholic media, it seems may come from western observers that could be not Catholics at all.

It is said that the excommunication of 1054 was given by H.H. Pope Leo IX to the contemporary Patriarch of Constantinople, that is not true, it is definitively false, the Pope didn't appoint such act, since he was already dead.

www.npr.org...

The Holy father died when his emissaries has not even already met the Patriarch Cerularius, so they acted without consulting him and also without waiting for the election of a New Pope, what makes their excommunication granted by
Cardinal Humbert pretty controversial from the Historic point of view.

Humbert attitude can be qualified in the best of the cases as impulsive and highly imprudent, since it triggered the great Schism, that has lasted for almost 1000 years.

Thanks for your attention,

Teh Angel of Lightness

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: The angel of light
Even better, but this change of attitude has not yet filtered down to some of the Catholics who post on ATS. Until that aggressive "You are not in the church unless you accept the Pope's authority" stance disappears, non-Catholics will want to keep at arms length away from the Catholic community.

That's odd, I've observed far more anti-Catholicism — on ATS, growing up in the bible belt, in the entirety of American history (1 Catholic president despite being the largest group of Christians in the US since the mid-19th century) and even in pop culture.

Where are you from? Maybe you just don't know any evangelicals.

EDIT:

Right here in this thread ironically enough:

originally posted by: kenzohattori69
Who among us is strong enough to wage war with the beast? Just another "catholic" deception, deflection, distraction. Call it what you will. Where are they meeting, the Bay of Pigs?

a reply to: theantediluvian
I'm from England, where the religious atmosphere is probably less frenetic, even in the division between religious and non-religious.
I was thinking in particular of two Catholic posters who each tried to make it their personal mission to drag me into the Catholic church. The argument that "The Roman catholic church alone is the church that Christ founded". Naturally their efforts push me in the opposite direction.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Ah, that might explain our different observations. Here in the US, Catholics have been on the receiving end of distrust and animosity from the colonial period on, even after becoming the largest Christian denomination following the massive influx of German, Irish, Italian, Polish and other immigrants in the mid-19th century. There were times like the 1840's, where the anti-Catholicism escalated to the point of violence, church torching, etc.

Anti-Catholicism (or at least the public's tolerance for it) really didn't cease until maybe WWII. The first and only Catholic US President (JFK) was elected in 1960.

These days it's not really a pressing social issue but even growing up in the late 80's/90's in the very heavily protestant South, it wasn't exactly uncommon to hear the occasional spiel about how Catholics worshiped the Pope or worshiped idols and were all definitely going to hell.