Saturday, September 05, 2009

Pope Benedict points to St. Augustine as source of unity with Orthodox

Rome, Italy, Sep 4, 2009 / 10:08 am (CNA).- In a letter he sent Thursday to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Pope Benedict XVI has underscored that the teachings of St. Augustine are a path seeking unity with the Orthodox.

The message from the Pope was sent to Cardinal Kasper as the 11th Inter-Christian Symposium gathered in Rome. The meeting was organized by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical University Antonianum and the Aristotle Orthodox Theological Faculty of Thessalonica.

In his message, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude for “this initiative of fraternal encounter and exchange on the common aspects of spirituality, which is beneficial for a closer relationship between Catholics and Orthodox.”

After noting that the location of the meeting in Rome provides a “strong stimulus to advance toward full communion and above all, the memory of the Apostles Peter and Paul,” Pope Benedict XVI explained that the meeting’s theme, “St. Augustine in the Western and Eastern Tradition,” is "most interesting for reflecting further on Christian theology and spirituality in the West and in the East, and on its development.”
Read the rest here.

5 comments:

DNY said...

Ah, well, and his Pontificate started so well from an Orthodox perspective.

I am reminded of the story of a wise Orthodox priest who, when asked by one of our separated Latin brethern what the biggest difference between the churches is, replied, "The biggest difference is that, whereas your have St. Augustine and Blessed John Cassian, we have St. John Cassian and Blessed Augustine."

David said...

I have done my part, today my 7 year old daughter and I ran into an older RC nun and decided as a token of friendship we would give her an icon we had received in church today. She was just tickled.

Unknown said...

DNY,

lol. Very true.

VSO said...

Ummmmm, don't many Orthodox (I'm using the word loosely now) despise Augustine?

John (Ad Orientem) said...

VSO
Blessed Augustine is commemorated as a saint in the Orthodox Church. So no, most Orthodox don't despise him. That said, we tend to commemorate him more for his personal sanctity than for his theological opinions, many of which are highly controversial and have been rejected.

In ICXC
John