Leo XIV devoted his last hours in Türkiye to the “Pope” and the “Orthodox Vatican.” Just as he is the successor of the Apostle Saint Peter, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is the successor of his brother the Apostle Saint Andrew. Its ancient “basilica”. … “St. Peter” was the majestic Hagia Sophia, but for centuries, it had to make do with the small church of St. George, built by law without domes, in Fanar, Istanbul’s Greek quarter.
Historically, the progressive rivalry between Rome and Constantinople snowballed over the centuries until in 1054 Christians were divided between the Catholics, a label that invoked the “universal jurisdiction” of the bishop of Rome, and the Orthodox, who raised the banner of defending the “true doctrine.” The last straw was Patriarch Miguel Cerulario’s refusal to receive the Pope’s three envoys. Finally, the Supreme Pontiff’s envoy, Cardinal Umberto de Silva Candida, left the excommunication of the Patriarch on the altar of Hagia Sophia, who in turn responded by excommunicating the Supreme Pontiff’s envoys.
After avoiding contact for nine centuries, during the Second Vatican Council, they decided to withdraw mutual excommunication. Moreover, the Catholic Church no longer named a “Latin” patriarch of Constantinople, and popes and patriarchs have since made mutual visits of great affection such as those made by Leo XIV today. The Supreme Pontiff who was at the lighthouse was Francisco, in 2014, also on November 30. That morning, after the long ceremony, and before the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Bartholomew asked everyone for their blessing and bowed his head. In response, the Patriarch, in addition to blessing him, kissed him on the forehead.
Two big issues separate the two churches
Leo XIV witnessed much of the long Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church, sitting in a prominent place. In his Sunday sermon, the Patriarch thanked him for saying that this visit “cannot be considered a mere protocol, because it concretely expresses the commitment to seeking unity among Christians and the sincere aspiration to restore full ecclesiastical communion.” He also pointed positively to the two main jurisprudential issues that separate them. “We can pray that issues such as the ‘filioque’ (a theological expression to explain the nature of the Holy Spirit) and papal infallibility, which are being examined by the Mixed Commission, will be resolved so that the way they are understood will not be obstacles to the communion of our Churches.”
“His faith is our faith, and the law of faith unites us in true communion and allows us to recognize each other as brothers and sisters,” Leon said during a speech after the ceremony. He stressed that his priority as Pope is to seek “full communion.” He added: “There have been many misunderstandings and even conflicts between Christians from different churches in the past, and there are still obstacles that prevent us from being in full communion, but we must not retreat from the commitment to unity and we cannot stop considering ourselves brothers and sisters.” “Sisters in Christ and loving each other in this way,” the Pope added. He then presented to them three common challenges to work on: peace, “the threatening environmental crisis” and promoting “the use of new technologies in the service of the integral development of human beings.”
Bartholomew I, 85 years old, is responsible for a community of only 3,000 people in Constantinople, but about 7 million Orthodox diaspora depend on him, and as ecumenical patriarch, he enjoys “honorary primacy” among all the leaders of this church, which governs about 300 million Christians. But half of them depend on the Moscow Patriarchate, which it unilaterally separated from in 2018, as Kirill did not accept that it granted Ukrainian Orthodoxy independence from its patriarchate.
In the face of numerical weakness, the current patriarch is an example of moral “authority.” Instead of locking himself in anger over the flight of the Orthodox from his city – 100 years ago there were 130,000 people and now less than 3,000 – he turned this weakness into his main strength to defend the great causes of Orthodoxy and Christians such as interreligious dialogue, unity among believers and defense of the environment, far from geopolitical interests. The Republic of Turkey relies on this loyalty and has agreed, for example, to grant Turkish citizenship to those who make up its complex. It is the lifeblood of this Church, because to be Patriarch of Constantinople it is necessary to be Turkish. The lack of believers in this country led to fears of the extinction of his office.