{"id":327684,"date":"2015-10-27T08:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T07:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/bartholomew-i-master-of-the-culture-of-unity\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:01:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T13:01:49","slug":"bartholomew-i-master-of-the-culture-of-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/bartholomew-i-master-of-the-culture-of-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Bartholomew I, master of the Culture of Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2151027-02\"<\/a>During his lecture on October 26, 2015, following the conferment of the title of Doctor in the \u201cCulture of Unity\u201d by Sophia University Institute<\/a>, Bartholomew I recalled the history of relations between the two \u201csister\u201d churches<\/strong>. Those relations had been marred by centuries of misunderstanding and, in time returned to the path towards unity with the lifting of the mutual excommunications and the steps taken by such figures as Paul VI and Athenagoras I <\/strong>whose legacy has been embraced by Bartholomew I. It is a path that has recently recalled the value of \u201csynodality\u201d as a key element in guiding the Church of Christ, and there were several occasions that expressed spiritual synergy. In his message<\/a>, read by Cardinal Betori, Pope Francis addressed \u201cthe beloved brother Bartholomew\u201d stressing \u201cthe common journey our Churches take towards full and visible unity, to which we aspire with dedication and perseverance.\u201d\u00a0 The Patriarch was deeply touched by the Pope\u2019s words <\/strong>and said he was \u201cvery\u201d happy, confiding that he would \u201creturn to Istanbul stronger, more certain\u201d knowing there was a \u201ca brother in Rome who wished to work and pray with us to accelerate the unity of our churches\u201d and to whom he responded with the \u201cKiss of Peace\u201d invoking the prayer for a long life for Pope Francis. \"2151027-01\"<\/a>The Patriarch\u2019s words breathed a history that had gone from \u201cthe refusal to recognise the other <\/strong>as Christian\u201d to the rise of \u201cprotagonists of the new springtime in the Church who would make unity the main focus of their pastoral activity for the good of all\u201d and because of their single desire of \u201cadvancing the ways of God.\u201d His words also breathed a future history in which both Church and human institutions would understand that \u201cdiversities are a gift and not contrapositions, richness and not imbalance, life and not death\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> The ceremony was held in the Focolare town of <\/strong>Loppiano<\/a>, Italy, <\/strong>where Sophia University Institute is located, and that day marked the opening of Sophia\u2019s 8th academic year. More than a thousand people attended the extraordinary event with the presence of His Holiness Bartholomew I \u2013 several delegations from the Orthodox Church, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, civic leaders, a Muslim community and over 4 thousand viewers connected via internet. \"2151027-03\"<\/a>The recognition statement presented to the Patriarch of Constantinople <\/strong>expressed gratitude \u201cfor his courageous, enduring and fruitful patience in favour of a culture of unity\u201d of which he is a \u201cbeloved and listened-to protagonist on the international level, on the ecclesial level in the dialogue between the Churches, on the interreligious level in the encounter amongst different religious traditions and experiences, and on the cultural level in the collaboration amongst women and men of all beliefs who follow the path of universal brotherhood.\u201d In an interview, Dr. Piero Coda, President of the Institute, went on to say \u2013 explaining the culture of unity \u2013 it is not a utopia, but an \u201cinspiration through which Chiara Lubich<\/a> understood that the charism of unity given to her by God, could also be expressed by culture. There is always a need for mediations, models, as Pope Francis says, a cultural revolution, to channel existence towards new frontiers. This is why Sophia University Institute was begun.\u201d Focolare president, <\/strong>Maria Voce,<\/a> spoke for the whole Movement <\/strong>expressed to the Patriarch the joy and the honour of welcoming him to the town of Loppiano, mindful of the leading role he plays as a spiritual and intellectual figure, the value of his testimony and of his \u201ccalls to justice and the safeguarding of the environment which is our common home.\u201d \u201cDialogue is our common priority,\u201d <\/strong>Maria Voce continued, as she stated our wish to \u201cpursue the path in total harmony of ideals and life witness.\u201d Another step, recalled by Bartholomew I during an interview at the conclusion of the ceremony, was the November 2015 gathering in Istanbul, of Bishop Friends of the Focolare from different churche<\/a>s: \u201cThere,\u201d he said, \u201cwe will be able to express our will to work for the unity of our Churches. We are glad and ready to welcome them and to exchange the Kiss of Peace between East and West.\u201d Unity in diversity was one of the \u201cnew terms\u201d that were mentioned, <\/strong>and that University president Piero Coda strongly emphasised: \u201cthe Gospel is not uniformity, but appreciation of differences. Flowing from the same font, they are \u2018unity\u2019 precisely in the measure to which they enter into relation with one another; that is, that they mutually recognize the gifts that each of them carries. Therefore, diversity is the flower of unity when it is lived as a relationship, as fraternity, as communion.\u201d \u201cAnd it is precisely in the acceptance of the diversity\u201d \u2013 the Patriarch concluded \u2013 \u201c<\/strong>through the dialogue of love, mutual respect, acceptance of the Other and our availability to welcome and be welcomed, that we will be able to become for the world icons of Christ <\/em>and like Him, in unity, also be diversity.\u201d Replay\u00a0streaming<\/a> Message from Pope Francis\u00a0<\/a> Press Release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHeartfelt recognition for his commitment to the promotion of the culture of unity, which contributes favourably to the common journey our Churches take towards full and visible unity, to which we aspire with dedication and perseverance\u201d \u00a0(Pope Francis in his message to the Patriarch of Constantinople)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}