Patriarch of Constantinople: “One must be able to live alongside Catholics in love and respect”

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople recorded a video message for French television channel KTO after watching a new documentary about the former Latin Benedictine monastery of Amalfion on Mount Athos. The tape presents the history of the monastery, which existed for two centuries after the schism of 1054 and is noted to have been a kind of “bridge” between the monasticism of the Eastern and Western Churches — a theme the Patriarch has used in the context of ecumenism. In his view, one can infer from this history the alleged possibility of coexistence with Catholic communities “in mutual respect and without conflict,” until the time when, in his words, “God will allow us to meet at the one Chalice.” The Orthodox Times reports that.

«This movie kind of took us back a few centuries to a time when the presence of Latin monasticism was possible on Mount Athos. I think such an initiative would be much more difficult today for various reasons. First of all, we can learn a lesson from this movie that we can learn to understand the necessity and possibility of living together alongside our Catholic brothers, to love and respect each other until that great day when God will allow us to meet at the one Chalice,» Bartholomew said.

According to a report from the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew watched the tape at his residence along with the brotherhood of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Separately, he thanked the director and all those who worked on the movie.

Recall that on the day of the memory of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon on the old style, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople visited the Russian-speaking St. Panteleimon community of Istanbul. The head of the Phanar noted that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the Mother Church for all nations and “embraces all its children.”