When the uses and customs belonging to each Church are considered as absolutely unchangeable there is a sure risk of Tradition losing that feature of a living reality which grows and develops, and which the Spirit guarantees precisely because it has something to say to the people of every age. As Scripture is increasingly understood by those who read it,[23] every other element of the Church's living heritage is increasingly understood by believers and is enriched by new contributions, in fidelity and in continuity.[24] Only a religious assimilation, in the obedience of faith, of what the Church calls "Tradition" will enable Tradition to be embodied in different cultural and historical situations and conditions.[25] Tradition is never pure nostalgia for things or forms past, nor regret for lost privileges, but the living memory of the Bride, kept eternally youthful by the Love that dwells within her.

Quotiens contra mores et cuiusque Ecclesiae consuetudines propriae veluti mera accipiuntur immobilitas, fieri certo potest ut nota veritatis viventis Traditioni adimatur, quae nempe crescens enucleatur et a Spiritu idoirco praestatur ut ad homines loquatur omnis aetatis. Et quem ad modum Scriptura iam in eo succrescit qui eam legit,[23] ita alia pariter quzelibet Ecclesiae patrimonii elementa in credentium crescunt intellectu novisque augescunt rebus, fidelitate servata necnon continuatione.[24] Consentit tantummodo in fidei oboedientia perceptio religiosa illius quam Ecclesia nominat «Traditionem» ut haec ipsa in varias inseratur condiciones et adiuncta historica culturaliaque.[25] Numquam merum desiderium Traditio est rerum aut rationum praeteritarum nec querimonia de amissis iuribus privilegiisve, verum vigens Sponsae memoria quae in sempiternum iuvenis custoditur ab illo qui intus inhabitat Amore.

If Tradition puts us in continuity with the past, eschatological expectation opens us to God's future. Each Church must struggle against the temptation to make an absolute of what it does, and thus to celebrate itself or abandon itself to sorrow. But time belongs to God, and whatever takes place in time can never be identified with the fullness of the Kingdom, which is always a free gift. The Lord Jesus came to die for us and rose from the dead, while creation, saved through hope, is still suffering its birth pangs (cf. Rom 8:22). The Lord himself will return to give the cosmos to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). The Church invokes this return, and the monk and the religious are its privileged witnesses.

Si ergo coniungit nos Traditio tamquam continuos cum elapsis temporibus, ad futura Dei aperit nos eschatologica exspectatio. Resistere debet unaquaeque Ecclesia neque sinere se induci ut habeat prorsus absoluta quae agit proindeque ut ipsa sese celebret seque maestitiae tradat. Tempus autem Dei est, et quidquid efficitur, numquam idem est ac plenitudo Regni, quod gratuitum semper est donum. Ut moreretur pro nobis Christus Dominus venit a mortuisque resurrexit, dum contra in spe salvata creatura adhuc dolores patitur parturientis (cfr. Rom 8, 22); idem redibit dein ille Dominus ut Patri universum restituat orbem (cfr. 1 Cor 15, 28). Hunc invocat Ecclesia reditum, cuius testis praecipuus monachus est ac religiosus.

The East expresses in a living way the reality of tradition and expectation. All its liturgy, in particular, is a commemoration of salvation and an invocation of the Lord's return. And if Tradition teaches the Churches fidelity to what gave birth to them, eschatological expectation urges them to be what they have not yet fully become, what the Lord wants them to become, and thus to seek ever new ways of fidelity, overcoming pessimism because they are striving for the hope of God who does not disappoint.

Vivo modo declarat Oriens veritates traditionis et exspectationis. Omnis enim eius liturgia praesertim, salutis memoriale est atque redituri Domini advocatio. Si Traditio Ecclesias fidelitatem docet iis rebus quae ipsas pepererunt, eschatologica exspectatio eas impellit ut id ipsae sint quod nondum in plenitudine sunt quodque vult Dominus ut tandem fiant, et ut vias usque novas reperiant fidelitatis, omnem pessimismum debellantes quippe quae in spem Dei numquam fallentem proiciantur.

We must show people the beauty of memory, the power that comes to us from the Spirit and makes us witnesses because we are children of witnesses; we must make them taste the wonderful things the Spirit has wrought in history; we must show that it is precisely Tradition which has preserved them, thus giving hope to those who, even without seeing their efforts to do good crowned by success, know that someone else will bring them to fulfillment; therefore man will feel less alone, less enclosed in the narrow corner of his own individual achievement.

Pulchritudinem memoriae hominibus demonstremus nos oportet, virtutem quae a Spiritu manat quaeque testes nos efficit, quia nos aliorum testium sumus filii; efficiamus praeterea ut ipsi vicissim mirabilia degustent quae per historiam diffudit Spiritus; evincamus Traditionem omnino illa mirabilia conservare, spe simul addita illis qui, licet nondum conatus suos felici rerum successu auctos viderint, noverunt tamen quendam alium conatus consummaturum; tum minus se solum sentiet homo minusque veluti in angulum angustum inclusum proprii sui operis singularis.

9. I would now like to look at the vast panorama of Eastern Christianity from a specific vantage point which affords a view of many of its features: monasticism.

9. Amplissimum cupimus nunc perlustrare christiani Orientis prospectum alia quadam e specula, unde plures eius notas conspicari poterimus; nempe, e monachismo.

In the East monasticism has retained great unity. It did not experience the development of different kinds of apostolic life as in the West. The various expressions of monastic life, from the strictly coenobitic, as conceived by Pachomius or Basil, to the rigorously eremitic, as with Anthony or Macanus of Egypt, correspond more to different stages of the spiritual journey than to the choice between different states of life. In any event, whatever form they take, they are all based on monasticism.

Orientalibus in provinciis monastica institutio magnam semper servavit unitatem, cum secus atque in occidentali Ecclesia formationem non vidisset diversorum apostolicae vitae generum. Monasticae vitae instituta varia, a coenobitismo stricto quale Pachomius illud vel Basilius conceperat, usque ad eremitismum rigidissimum Antonii vel Macarii Aegyptii, pluribus potius spiritalis itineris respondent gradibus quam varius vitae statibus. Quoquo modo ad monachismum inse omnes se referunt, quacumque is sub forma declaratur.

Moreover, in the East, monasticism was not seen merely as a separate condition, proper to a precise category of Christians, but rather as a reference point for all the baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord; it was presented as a symbolic synthesis of Christianity.

Monasticum praeterea institutum in Oriente visum non est uti segregata quaedam condicio propria alicuius christifidelium ordinis, sed maxime tamquam signum aliquod quo omnes se convertere possunt baptizati pro donorum copia et natura cuique a Domino concessorum, quandoquidem se praestat veluti totius christiani nominis summam emblematicam.

When God's call is total, as it is in the monastic life, then the person can reach the highest point that sensitivity, culture and spirituality are able to express. This is even more true for the Eastern Churches, for which monasticism was an essential experience and still today is seen to flourish in them, once persecution is over and hearts can be freely raised to heaven. The monastery is the prophetic place where creation becomes praise of God and the precept of concretely lived charity becomes the ideal of human coexistence; it is where the human being seeks God without limitation or impediment, becoming a reference point for all people, bearing them in his heart and helping them to seek God.

Quotiescumque Deus ad devotionem absolutam, sicut monastica fit in vita, arcessit, tum homo profecto valet altissimum attingere culmen eorum, quae sensus, cultura et spiritualitas exprimere possunt. Hoc maiore ratione in orientalibus Ecclesiis, ubi monachismus necessarium quoddam constituit experimentum quod etiamnum inter eas florere se commonstrat, simul ac Ecclesiae vexationes abierunt atque hominum animi ad caelum libere ferri queunt. Propheticus quippe locus monasterium est, ubi res creatae laus vera Dei evadunt caritatisque praeceptum re ipsa impletum fit optima quaedam convictus humani species, et ubi homo quaerit Deum sine finibus impedimentisve omnibus factus signum, dum eos in animo gestat eosque adiuvat ut item Deum conquirant.

I would also like to mention the splendid witness of nuns in the Christian East. This witness has offered an example of giving full value in the Church to what is specifically feminine, even breaking through the mentality of the time. During recent persecutions, especially in Eastern European countries, when many male monasteries were forcibly closed, female monasticism kept the torch of the monastic life burning. The nun's charism, with its own specific characteristics, is a visible sign of that motherhood of God to which Sacred Scripture often refers.

Commemorare simul studemus splendidam Orientis christiani monacharum testifieationem. Praestantem ea monstravit rationem aestimandi femineam in Ecclesia proprietatem, mentem etiam temporum mutando. Recentioribus saevientibus persecutionibus in orientalis potissimutn Europae nationibus, tametsi multa virorum clausa vi erant monasteria, facem tamen monasticae vitae ardentem servabat feminarum monachismus. Charisma enim monachae, cum notis ipsius propriis, adspectabile exsistit Dei maternitatis signum, quod saepius Sacrae Litterae commemorant.

Therefore I will look to monasticism in order to identify those values which I feel are very important today for expressing the contribution of the Christian East to the journey of Christ's Church towards the Kingdom. While these aspects are at times neither exclusive to monasticism nor to the Eastern heritage they have frequently acquired a particular connotation in themselves. Besides, we are not seeking to make the most of exclusivity, but of the mutual enrichment in what the one Spirit has inspired in the one Church of Christ.

Monachismum ergo respiciemus ut bona ea, quae magni ponderis esse arbitramur ad Orientis partes illuminandas in Ecclesiae Christi peregrinatione ad Regnum, singillatim ostendantur. Licet haud solam monasticam experientiam referant nec Orientis solius patrimonium, aspectus hi saepe peculiarem ibi significationem induerunt. Ceterum diiudicare conamur non exclusivam naturam alicuius partis, verum mutuam in ius rebus locupletationem quas unicus unica in Christi Ecclesia excitavit Spiritus.

Monasticism has always been the very soul of the Eastern Churches: the first Christian monks were born in the East and the monastic life was an integral part of the Eastern lumen passed on to the West by the great Fathers of the undivided Church.[26]

Anima ipsa orientalium Ecclesiarum semper monasticum fuit institutum: in Oriente videlicet primi orti sunt monachi christiani vitaque monastica fuit pars ipsa necessaria luminis illius Orientalis quod ab excellentibus indivisae tunc Ecclesiae Patribus in Occidentalem orbem est traiectum.[26]

The strong common traits uniting the monastic experience of the East and the West make it a wonderful bridge of fellowship, where unity as it is lived shines even more brightly than may appear in the dialogue between the Churches.

Admirandum sane fraternitatis pontem efficiunt solida illa elementa communia, quibus monastica tum Orientis tum Occidentis copulantur experimenta, ubi refulget unitas vivo modo culta magis etiam quam in dialogo inter Ecclesias elucere potest.

10. Monasticism shows in a special way that life is suspended between two poles: the Word of God and the Eucharist. This means that even in its eremitical forms, it is always a personal response to an individual call and, at the same time, an ecclesial and community event.

10. Monastica institutio peculiariter patefacit vitam duos inter vertices suspendi: Dei verbum atque Eucharistiam. Quod proin significat monachismum, suis etiam sub anachoreticis formis, responsionem eodem tempore uniuscuiusque esse ad vocationem singularem necnon ecclesiae ipsius communitatisque eventum.

The starting point for the monk is the Word of God, a Word who calls, who invites, who personally summons, as happened to the Apostles. When a person is touched by the Word obedience is born, that is, the listening which changes life. Every day the monk is nourished by the bread of the Word. Deprived of it, he is as though dead and has nothing left to communicate to his brothers and sisters because the Word is Christ, to whom the monk is called to be conformed.

Verbum namque Dei punctum illud est unde monachus proficiscitur, Verbum quod vocat, quod invitat, quod nominatim compellat, sicut Apostolis evenit. Cum quis Verbo tangitur, oritur oboeditio, id est auditio quae vitam commutat. Omni enim die monachus Verbi pane sese pascit. Illo autem destitutus veluti mortuus iacet nec quidquam iam quod cum fratribus communicet superest ei, siquidem Christus Verbum est cui ut ipse se adcommodet vocatur monachus.

Even while he chants with his brothers the prayer that sanctifies time, he continues his assimilation of the Word. The very rich liturgical hymnody, of which all the Churches of the Christian East can be justly proud, is but the continuation of the Word which is read, understood, assimilated and finally sung; those hymns are largely sublime paraphrases of the biblical text, filtered and personalized through the individual's experience and that of the community.

Cantitans etiam cum fratribus preces eas quibus tempus sanctificatur pergit ille imbibere Verbum. Copiosissima hymnographia liturgica, de qua Orientis christiani Ecclesiae omnes merito gloriantur, nihil aliud est nisi prosecutio Verbi lecti, comprehensi, suscepti ac demum decantati: maximam sunt partem carmina illa excelsae paraphrases biblicorum locorum, quae percolatae sunt ac personales redditae ex singulorum ipsiusque communitatis experientiis.

Standing before the abyss of divine mercy, the monk can only proclaim the awareness of his own radical poverty, which immediately becomes a plea for help and a cry of rejoicing on account of an even more generous salvation, since from the abyss of his own wretchedness such salvation is unthinkable.[27] This is why the plea for forgiveness and the glorification of God form a substantial part of liturgical prayer. The Christian is immersed in wonder at this paradox the latest of an infinite series all magnified with gratitude in the language of the liturgy the Immense accepts limitation; a virgin gives birth; through death, he who is life conquers death forever; in the heights of heaven, a human body is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Ante divinae misericordiae immensitatem monacho nihil restat aliud nisi suae egestatis plenae profiteri conscientiam, quse continuo precatio fit atque exsultationis vox ob munificentiorem etiam salutem, quoniam minime sperari eam licet ex propriae miseriae altitudine.[27] Hinc igitur ratio ducitur cur veniae imploratio Deique honoratio amplam liturgicae precationis partem repleant. Mergitur christianus in stuporem de hac mirabili re, postrema videlicet interminatae seriei quae omnis ipso liturgico sermone grata mente extollitur: Immensus fit finis; parit virgo; per mortem Is qui vita est, in sempiternum mortem devincit; caelis in celsis ad Patris dexteram hominis corpus Aqsidet.

The Eucharist is the culmination of this prayer experience, the other pole indissolubly bound to the Word, as the place where the Word becomes Flesh and Blood, a heavenly experience where this becomes an event.

In culmine huius experientiae orantis stat Eucharistia, alter nempe vertex cum Verbo inseparabiliter coniunctus, quatenus locus est ubi Verbum caro fit et sanguis, caelestis quaedam experientia ubi iterum ipsa fit eventus.

In the Eucharist, the Church's inner nature is revealed, a community of those summoned to the synaxis to celebrate the gift of the One who is offering and offered: participating in the Holy Mysteries, they become "kinsmen"[28] of Christ, anticipating the experience of divinization in the now inseparable bond linking divinity and humanity in Christ.

In Eucharistia alta aperitur indoles Ecclesiae, quae communitas est hominum ad synaxim vocatorum ut eius concelebrent munus qui et offerens est et oblatio: hi, Mysteria Sancta participantes, fiunt e «consanguinei»[28] Christi, praecipientes divinizationis experimentum iam in vinculo illo inseparabili quod divinitatem in Christo conglutinat humanitatemque.

But the Eucharist is also what anticipates the relationship of men and things to the heavenly Jerusalem. In this way it reveals its eschatological nature completely: as a living sign of this expectation, the monk continues and brings to fulfillment in the liturgy the invocation of the Church, the Bride who implores the Bridegroom's return in a maranatha constantly repeated, not only in words, but with the whole of his life.

Eucharistia autem id quoque est quod hominum ac rerum pertinendi condicionem ad Hierosolymam caelestem anticipat. Plane sic naturam suam patefacit eschatologicam: talis exspectationis vivum signum pergit monachus, perficitque in liturgia Ecclesiae invocationem, quae Sponsa est Sponsi reditum efflagitans in quodam «marana tha» usque repetito non verbis unis, sed tota simul vita.

11. In the liturgical experience, Christ the Lord is the light which illumines the way and reveals the transparency of the cosmos, precisely as in Scripture. The events of the past find in Christ their meaning and fullness, and creation is revealed for what it is: a complex whole which finds its perfection, its purpose in the liturgy alone. This is why the liturgy is heaven on earth, and in it the Word who became flesh imbues matter with a saving potential which is fully manifest in the sacraments: there, creation communicates to each individual the power conferred on it by Christ. Thus the Lord, immersed in the Jordan, transmits to the waters a power which enables them to become the bath of baptismal rebirth.[29]

11. Lumen est Christus Dominus in liturgico actu quod viam collustrat omnisque orbis declarat pellucidam naturam, sicut in Sacris Scripturis. In Christo namque reperiunt praeteriti temporis eventa significationem suam ac plenitudinem, atque tota creatura quid tandem sit recludit: rationum nempe summa quae in liturgia sola consummationem suam habent absolutamque destinationem. Haec causa est ob quam in terris iam liturgia caelum sit in eaque Verbum, quod carnem sumpsit, materiam salutari quadam perfundat potentia quae in Sacramentis plene manifesta apparet: inibi enim creatura cuique potestatem tribuit a Domino sibi collatam. Ita in fluvium Iordanem immissus Dominus aquis virtutem addit eas idoneas reddentem quae regenerationis baptismalis fiant lavacrum.[29]

Within this framework, liturgical prayer in the East shows a great aptitude for involving the human person in his or her totality: the mystery is sung in the loftiness of its content, but also in the warmth of the sentiments it awakens in the heart of redeemed humanity. In the sacred act, even bodiliness is summoned to praise, and beauty, which in the East is one of the best loved names expressing the divine harmony and the model of humanity transfigured,[30] appears everywhere: in the shape of the church, in the sounds, in the colors, in the lights, in the scents. The lengthy duration of the celebrations, the repeated invocations everything expresses gradual identification with the mystery celebrated with one's whole person. Thus the prayer of the Church already becomes participation in the heavenly liturgy, an anticipation of the final beatitude.

Hoc in rerum prospectu liturgica precatio in Oriente maxime idoneam se ostendit ad totam humanam implicandam personam: canitur quidem mysterium in rerum suarum excelsitate, sed in fervore etiam adfectuum quos excitat in hominum redemptorum pectoribus. Actionibus in sacris etiam corporea natura ad laudem vocatur ac venustas ea, quae in Oriente una habetur carissimarum vocum ut divina consonantia exprimatur atque exemplum etiam transformati hominum generis,[30] ubique conspicitur: in aedium structuris, in sonis et coloribus, in luce et fragrantiis. Extractum longius celebrationum tempus, iteratae invocationes, omnia denique comprobant aliquem paulatim in celebratum mysterium ingredi tota sua cum persona. Sic proinde Ecclesiae precatio ipsa communicatio evadit caelestis liturgiae, ultimae beatitudinis praegustatio.

This total involvement of the person in his rational and emotional aspects, in "ecstasy" and in immanence, is of great interest and a wonderful way to understand the meaning of created realities: these are neither an absolute nor a den of sin and iniquity. In the liturgy, things reveal their own nature as a gift offered by the Creator to humanity: "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). Though all this is marked by the tragedy of sin, which weighs down matter and obscures its clarity, the latter is redeemed in the Incarnation and becomes fully "theophoric", that is, capable of putting us in touch with the Father. This property is most apparent in the holy mysteries, the sacraments of the Church.

Universalis haec personae aestimatio propriis in partibus rationalibus et emotivis, in eexstasi * et immanentia, simul ad nostra praecipue pertinet tempora, cum mirificam constituat scholam ad rerum creatarum significationem intellegendam: eas videlicet nec absolutum quiddam esse nec peccati et iniquitatis receptaculum. Patefaciunt in liturgia res proprietatem suam veluti doni a Conditore ad homines delati: «Viditque Deus cuncta, quae fecit, et ecce erant valde bona»(Gn 1, 31). Si vero haec omnia signantur ipsa peccati calamitate, quod gravat materiam prohibetque ne pellucida sit, haec tamen in incarnatione redimitur redditurque prorsus theophorica, quae videlicet valeat nos cum Patre coniungere: proprietas autem haec in sanctis maxime mysteriis, Ecclesiae sacramentis, detegitur.

Christianity does not reject matter. Rather, bodiliness is considered in all its value in the liturgical act whereby the human body is disclosed in its inner nature as a temple of the Spirit and is united with the Lord Jesus, who himself took a body for the world's salvation. This does not mean however, an absolute exaltation of all that is physical, for we know well the chaos which sin introduced into the harmony of the human being. The liturgy reveals that the body through the mystery of the Cross, is in the process of transfiguration, pneumatization: on Mount Tabor Christ showed his body radiant, as the Father wants it to be again.

Materiam haud repudiat fides christiana nec corporis veritatem, cui immo intra liturgicum actum momentum tribuitur, ubi naturam intimam suam corpus humanum commonstrat veluti templi Spiritus eoque pervenit ut cum Domino Iesu coniungatur qui et ipse factus est in mundi salutem corpus. Nec tamen illud secum fert absolutam quandam eorum omnium celebrationem quae sunt corporea, quia probe novimus omnes turbationem peccato importatam in hominis ipsius congruentiam. Docet quidem liturgia corpus, per Crucis mysterium, ad transfigurationem procedere, ad spiritualizationem: in monte Tabor refulgens ipse ostendit Christus illud eorpus, quem ad modum vult Pater ut aliquando rursus fiat.

Cosmic reality also is summoned to give thanks because the whole universe is called to recapitulation in Christ the Lord. This concept expresses a balanced and marvelous teaching on the dignity, respect and purpose of creation and of the human body in particular. With the rejection of all dualism and every cult of pleasure as an end in itself, the body becomes a place made luminous by grace and thus fully human.

Ad gratiarum porro actionem etiam res universae vocantur, quandoquidem totus destinatur orbis ad recapitulationem in Christo Domino. Hanc secundum notionem significatur aequabilis mirabilisque doctrina de creationis ipsius ac particulatim humani corporis dignitate et observantia et fine. Reiectis nempe omni dualismo atque voluptatis cultu uti in se finis, locus constituitur gratia ipsa illuminatus proindeque plane humanus.

To those who seek a truly meaningful relationship with themselves and with the cosmos, so often disfigured by selfishness and greed, the liturgy reveals the way to the harmony of the new man, and invites him to respect the Eucharistic potential of the created world. That world is destined to be assumed in the Eucharist of the Lord, in his Passover, present in the sacrifice of the altar.

Qui rationem verae significationis ac necessitudinem quaerit secum et cum universo orbe, qui etiamnum crebro proprii sui amore deformatur atque aviditate, viam novi hominis ad aequabilitatem pandit illi liturgia atque impellit ad reverentiam eucharisticae potentiae rerum creatarum: eae enim in Eucharistiam Domini designantur ut recipiantur, in ipsius Pascha intra altaris sacrificium.

12. The monk turns his gaze to Christ, God and man. In the disfigured face of Christ, the man of sorrow, he sees the prophetic announcement of the transfigured face of the Risen Christ. To the contemplative eye, Christ reveals himself as he did to the women of Jerusalem, who had gone up to contemplate the mysterious spectacle on Calvary. Trained in this school, the monk becomes accustomed to contemplating Christ in the hidden recesses of creation and in the history of mankind, which is then understood from the standpoint of progressive identification with the whole Christ.

12. Ad Christum, hominem deum, convertitur monachi obtutus: in vultu deturpato eius, qui homo est dolorum, ille iam dispicit veluti propheticum nuntium transformatam resuscitati faciem. Oculis enim contemplantium sese conspiciendum dat Christus sicut mulieribus Hierosolymitanis, quae ascenderant ut spectaculum intuerentur arcanum Calvariae. Ita profecto eadem in schola institutus monachi quoque oculus Christum contemplari assuescit etiam in abditis creationis recessibus hominumque historia, quae et ipsa comprehenditur in progrediente aliqua conformatione ad Christum totum.

This gaze progressively conformed to Christ thus learns detachment from externals, from the tumult of the senses, from all that keeps man from that freedom which allows him to be grasped by the Spirit. Walking this path, he is reconciled with Christ in a constant process of conversion: in the awareness of his own sin and of his distance from the Lord which becomes heartfelt remorse, a symbol of his own baptism in the salutary water of tears; in silence and inner quiet which is sought and given, where he learns to make his heart beat in harmony with the rhythm of the Spirit, eliminating all duplicity and ambiguity. This process of becoming ever more moderate and sparing more transparent to himself can cause him to fall into pride and intransigence if he comes to believe that these are the fruits of his own ascetic efforts. Spiritual discernment in continuous purification then makes him humble and meek, aware that he can perceive only some aspects of that truth which fills him, because it is the gift of the Spouse, who alone is fulfillment and happiness.

Intuitus magis magisque christificatus discit hoc modo ab exterioribus sese seiungere rebus, a sensuum turbine, ab omnibus scilicet iis quae hominis impediunt levitatem paratam ut a Spiritu se suscipi sinat. Hane emetiens viam permittit ille ut cum Christo reconcilietur in perpetuo conversionis progressu: in conscientia videlicet proprii peccati atque recessionis a Domino quae cordis gignit compunctionem, quae figura fit baptismi proprii in salutifera lacrimarum aqua; in silentio ac pace interiore conquisita et donata, ubi quis cordis ictum conformare discitur cum Spiritus pulsu, omni ambiguitate duplicique facie submota. Cum sic magis aliquis sobrius evadit et essentialis, magis pellucidus erga se ipsum, fieri pariter potest ut in superbiam recidat et acerbitatem, si eo usque progreditur ut fructum hunc esse arbitretur ascetici sui studii. Discretio enim spiritalis in perpetua purificatione humilem eum tunc reddit ac mansuetum, conscium se percipere solumradium aliquem illius veritatis quae ei satisfacit, cum munus Sponsi sit qui unus felicitatis est plenitudo.

To the person who is seeking the meaning of life the East offers this school which teaches one to know oneself and to be free and loved by that Jesus who says: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). He tells those who seek inner healing to go on searching: if their intention is upright and their way is honest, in the end the Father's face will let itself be recognized engraved as it is in the depths of the human heart.

Homini vitae sensum conquirenti hoc offert Oriens magisterium ut se cognoscat sitque liber, a Christo illo amatus qui dixit: «Venite ad me, omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos» (Mt 11, 28). Interiorem sanationem quaerentem, is admonet ut quaerere pergat: si recta est voluntas ratioque honesta, tandem aliquando vultum suum Pater demonstrabit, qui in intimo hominum impressus est animo.

13. A monk's way is not generally marked by personal effort alone. He turns to a spiritual father to whom he abandons himself with filial trust, in the certainty that God's tender and demanding fatherhood is manifested in him. This figure gives Eastern monasticism an extraordinary flexibility: through the spiritual father's intervention the way of each monk is in fact strongly personalized in the times, rhythms and ways of seeking God. Precisely because the spiritual father is the harmonizing link, monasticism is permitted the greatest variety of coenobitic and eremitical expressions. Monasticism in the East has thus been able to fulfil the expectations of each Church in the various periods of its history.[31]

13. Monachi curriculum plerumque non solo cuiusque nisu aut studio conficitur, verum rationem habet ad spiritualem patrem, cui se filiali cum fiducia dedit, certus in isto teneram imperiosamque Dei paternitatem ostendi. Haec figura monachismo orientali singularem quandam adiungit tractabilitatem: spiritalis enim patris opera et industria iter cuiusque monachi personale admodum effficitur temporibus et modis et rhythmis ipsius inquisitionis Dei. Ob id ipsum quod spiritualis pater medium quoddam punctum est coniunctionis et consensionis, permittitur monastico instituto quam maxima rationum varietas tum coenobiticarum tum eremiticarum. Potuit ita esse Orientis monachismus consummatio atque effectio exspectationum cuiusque Ecclesiae diversis eius historiae aetatibus.[31]

In this quest, the East in particular teaches that there are brothers and sisters to whom the Spirit has granted the gift of spiritual guidance. They are precious points of reference, for they see things with the loving gaze with which God looks at us. It is not a question of renouncing one's own freedom, in order to be looked after by others. It is benefiting from the knowledge of the heart, which is a true charism, in order to be helped, gently and firmly, to find the way of truth. Our world desperately needs such spiritual guides. It has frequently rejected them, for they seemed to lack credibility or their example appeared out of date and scarcely attractive to current sensitivities. Nevertheless, it is having a hard time finding new ones, and so suffers in fear and uncertainty, without models or reference points. He who is a father in the spirit, if he really is such—and the people of God have always shown their ability to recognize him—will not make others equal to himself, but will help them find the way to the Kingdom.

In hac porro investigatione insigniter edocet Oriens fratres exsistere ac sorores quibus donum moderationis spiritalis concesserit Spiritus: ipsi sunt namque capita magni pretii, quandoquidem oculis inspiciunt amoris quem in nos habet Deus. Non id hic agitur, ut quis suae renuntiet libertati ut ab aliis se tractari sinat: interest potius fructum deducere ex cordis conscientia, quae verum est charisma, ut adiuvari liceat dulciter at fortiter ad veritatis detegendam viam. Opus mundo nostro maxime patribus est. Eos crebro reiecit quippe qui parum visi sint credibiles vel quorum exemplum iam obsoletum habitum sit parumve alliciens secundum vigentem hodie sensum. Difficulter tamen novos invenit et ideo in timore adfligitur et dubitatione, demptis exemplaribus et signis. Qui vero in Spiritu est pater, si vere talis est — et Dei Populus semper quivit talem agnoscere — non alios sui similes sibive pares faciet, sed eosdem ut in Regnum tramitem reperiant iuvabit.

Of course, the wonderful gift of male and female monastic life, which safeguards the gift of guidance in the Spirit and calls for appropriate recognition, has also been given to the West. In this context and wherever grace has inspired these precious means of interior growth, may those in charge foster this gift and use it to good advantage, and may all avail themselves of it. Thus they will experience the great comfort and support of fatherhood in the Spirit on their journey of faith.[32]

Vitae monasticae donum sine dubio etiam Oecidenti est concessum, tum virorum tum mulierum, quze munus custodit ductus in Spiritu et exspectat dum rite aestimetur. Iis in adiunctis et ubicumque talia gratia exsuscitabit pretiosa interioris maturationis instrumenta, utinam qui habent auctoritatem colere sciant et magni existimare huius modi donum omnesque valeant recte eo uti: experimento cognoscent quae consolatio quodque praesidium exstet in Spiritu paternitas ad eorum iter fidei.[32]

14. Precisely in gradual detachment from those worldly things which stand in the way of communion with his Lord, the monk finds the world a place where the beauty of the Creator and the love of the Redeemer are reflected. In his prayers the monk utters an epiklesis of the Spirit on the world and is certain that he will be heard, for this is a sharing in Christ's own prayer. Thus he feels rising within himself a deep love for humanity, that love which Eastern prayer so often celebrates as an attribute of God, the friend of men who did not hesitate to offer his Son so that the world might be saved. In this attitude the monk is sometimes enabled to contemplate that world already transfigured by the deifying action of Christ, who died and rose again.

14. Utique in progredienti separatione ab iis quae in mundo officiunt communioni cum Domino, monachus mundum reperit veluti locum ubi Creatoris pulchritudo et Redemptoris amor repercutiuntur. In sua precatione monachus Spiritus epiclesim super mundum dicit et pro certo habet se exauditum iri, quandoquidem illa ipsam Christi precationem participat. Animadvertit sic ille fervidum ex se oriri erga humanitatem amorem, amorem scilicet, quem Orientalis precatio persaepe celebrat tamquam Dei proprietatem, amici videlicet hominis qui suum Filium offerre non dubitavit ut mundus servaretur. Hoc in habitu nonnumquam monachus mundum contemplari potest, deificante actione Christi mortui et resuscitati iam transfiguratum.

Whatever path the Spirit has in store for him, the monk is always essentially the man of communion. Since antiquity this name has also indicated the monastic style of coenobitic life. Monasticism shows us how there is no true vocation that is not born of the Church and for the Church. This is attested by the experience of so many monks who, within their cells pray with an extraordinary passion, not only for the human person but for every creature, in a ceaseless cry that all may be converted to the saving stream of Christ's love. This path of inner liberation in openness to the Other makes the monk a man of charity. In the school of Paul the Apostle, who showed that love is the fulfilling of the law (cf. Rom 13:10), Eastern monastic communion has always been careful to guarantee the superiority of love over every law.

Quamoumque rationem ei tribuit Spiritus, monachus usque est ante omnia homo communionis. Hoc nomine ab antiquis iam temporibus vitae coenobiticae stilus monasticus significatur. Monachatus demonstrat veram esse non posse vocationem quae ex Ecclesia et pro Ecclesia non oriatur. Id testificatur tot monachorum experientia, qui suas in cellas conclusi, suas preces fervidissimo studio replent, non modo pro humana persona, verum et pro omnibus creaturis, continenter deprecantes ut res cunctze ad salutarem amoris Christi cursum se vertant. Hoc iter interioris liberationis per apertionem ad Alterum efficit monachum hominem caritatis. Paulo apostolo docente plenitudinem legis esse dilectionem (cfr. Rom 13, 10), communio monachi orientalis semper studuit, ut dilectionis excellentia quamlibet legem praecellat.

This communion is revealed first and foremost in service to one's brothers in monastic life, but also to the Church community, in forms which vary in time and place, ranging from social assistance to itinerant preaching. The Eastern Churches have lived this endeavor with great generosity, starting with evangelization, the highest service that the Christian can offer his brother, followed by many other forms of spiritual and material service. Indeed it can be said that monasticism in antiquity—and at various times in subsequent ages too—has been the privileged means for the evangelization of peoples.

Explicatur in primis per ministerium fratribus ipsa in vita monachica, at etiam communitati ecclesiali, modis accommodatis temporibus et locis, a socialibus progredientibus operibus ad peregrinantem praedicationem. Orientales Ecclesiae perstudiose hoc officium suppeditaverunt, ab evangelizatione initium sumentes, qui est excelsissimus famulatus, quem christianus fratri exhibere valeat, subsequentibus spiritalis corporalisque servitii multis aliis generibus. Immo dici etiam potest monachatus antiquis temporibus — et passim posterioribus quoque aetatibus — populorum evangelizationis praecipuum fuisse instrumentum.

15. The monk's life is evidence of the unity that exists in the East between spirituality and theology: the Christian, and the monk in particular, more than seeking abstract truths, knows that his Lord alone is Truth and Life, but also knows that he is the Way (cf. Jn 14:6) to reach both; knowledge and participation are thus a single reality: from the person to the God who is three Persons through the Incarnation of the Word of God.

15. Monachi vita unitatem comprobat, quae in Oriente exstat inter spiritalitatem et theologiam: christianus, praesertim monachus, potius quam veritates abstrusas requirat, scit unum Dominum suum esse Veritatem et Vitam, at simul scit etiam eum esse Viam (cfr. Io 14, 6), ut utramque consequatur: cognitio et participatio ergo unam rerum veritatem constituunt: a persona ad Deum trium personarum per Verbi Dei incarnationem.

The East helps us to express the Christian meaning of the human person with a wealth of elements. It is centered on the Incarnation, from which creation itself draws light. In Christ, true God and true man, the fullness of the human vocation is revealed. In order for man to become God, the Word took on humanity. Man, who constantly experiences the bitter taste of his limitations and sin, does not then abandon himself to recrimination or to anguish, because he knows that within himself the power of divinity is at work. Humanity was assumed by Christ without separation from his divine nature and without confusion,[33] and man is not left alone to attempt, in a thousand often frustrated ways, an impossible ascent to heaven. There is a tabernacle of glory, which is the most holy person of Jesus the Lord, where the divine and the human meet in an embrace that can never be separated. The Word became flesh, like us in everything except sin. He pours divinity into the sick heart of humanity, and imbuing it with the Father's Spirit enables it to become God through grace.

Oriens nos iuvat ut copiosis elementis personae humanae christianam significationem describamus, quae quidem in ipsa incarnatione est posita, ex qua lucem sumunt ipsae res creatae. In Christo, vero Deo veroque homine, plenitudo revelatur humanae vocationis: ut homo Deus fieret, Verbum humanitatem sumpsit. Homo, qui usque novit sui finis amaritudinem suique peccati, non queritur nec angitur, quandoquidem novit intra se divinam potentiam operari. Humanitas a Christo assumpta est absque a natura divina separatione sineque confusione;[33] non deseritur homo, ut solus caelum, sescentis abhibitis in cassum modis, scandere frustra conetur: gloriae tabernaculum exsistit, quod est sanctissima Iesu Domini persona, quo humanum et divinum amplexu quodam, qui solvi numquam poterit, conveniunt: Verbum caro factum est, omnino scilicet nostri simile, absque peccato. Ipse in aegrum humanitatis cor divinitatem fundit, atque Patris Spiritum infundens, eidem dat potestatem ut Deus per gratiam fiat.

But if this has revealed the Son to us, then it is given us to approach the mystery of the Father, principle of communion in love. The Most Holy Trinity appears to us then as a community of love: to know such a God means to feel the urgent need for him to speak to the world, to communicate himself; and the history of salvation is nothing but the history of God's love for the creature he has loved and chosen, wanting it to be "according to the icon of the Icon"—as the insight of the Eastern Fathers expresses it[34]— that is molded in the image of the Image, which is the Son, brought to perfect communion by the sanctifier, the Spirit of love. Even when man sins, this God seeks him and loves him, so that the relationship may not be broken off and love may continue to flow. And God loves man in the mystery of the Son, who let himself be put to death on the Cross by a world that did not recognize him, but has been raised up again by the Father as an eternal guarantee that no one can destroy love, for anyone who shares in it is touched by God's glory: it is this man transformed by love whom the disciples contemplated on Tabor, the man whom we are all called to be.

At si hoc nobis Filius revelavit, tum nobis datur facultas ad Patris mysterium accedendi, qui est communionis dilectionisque principium. Trinitas sanctissima ideo veluti amoris communitas apparet: talem Deum cognoscere significat animadvertere necessitatem ut is mundum alloquatur, sese communicet; historia salutis nihil aliud est quam historia amoris, quo Deus creaturam complectitur quam amavit et elegit, eam volens «secundum iconem iconis» — quemadmodum declarare consuevit mens Patrum orientalium[34] — nempe fictam ad imaginem Imaginis, quae est Filius, a sanctificatore. dilectionis Spiritu, ad perfectam communionem perductam. Etiam cum homo labitur, Deus hic eum quaerit et diligit, ne frangatur necessitudo ut que amor fluere pergat. Eundem in Filii niysterio amat, qui in cruce a mundo, qui eum non agnovit, necari patitur, at a Patre ab inferis revocatus, veluti perennis est sponsio neminem amorem interimere posse, quia quicumque eius est particeps, Dei gloria tangitur: hunc hominem transfiguratum amore sunt in Tabor discipuli contemplati, hominem scilicet, ad quem efficiendum omnes nos vocamur.

16. Nevertheless this mystery is continuously veiled enveloped in silence,[35] lest an idol be created in place of God. Only in a progressive purification of the knowledge of communion, will man and God meet and recognize in an eternal embrace their unending connaturality of love.

16. Attamen arcanum hoc continenter absconditur, silentio tegitur,[35] ut caveatur ne pro Deo idolum fingatur. Per procedentem tantum purificationem conscientiae communionis una convenient homo et Deus atque in aeterno amplexu agnoscent eiusdem naturae amorem numquam restinctum.

Thus is born what is called the apophatism of the Christian East: the more man grows in the knowledge of God, the more he perceives him as an inaccessible mystery, whose essence cannot be grasped. This should not be confused with an obscure mysticism in which man loses himself in enigmatic, impersonal realities. On the contrary, the Christians of the East turn to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, living persons tenderly present, to whom they utter a solemn and humble, majestic and simple liturgical doxology. But they perceive that one draws close to this presence above all by letting oneself be taught an adoring silence, for at the culmination of the knowledge and experience of God is his absolute transcendence. This is reached through the prayerful assimilation of Scripture and the liturgy more than by systematic meditation

Sic oritur apophatismus, qui dicitur, Orientis christiani: quo magis in Deo cognoscendo crescit homo, eo plenius eum veluti inaccessum mysterium intellegit, in eius essentia item ineffabilem. Id vero non est confundendum cum mystica quadam doctrina obscura, ubi homo impersonalibus arcanisque rebus circumdatus deerrat. Immo Orientales christiani ad Deum se convertunt Patrem, Filium et Spiritum Sanctum, ad viventes scilicet personas, amanter praesentes, quibus liturgicam doxologiam dirigunt sollemnem atque humilem. At ipsi percipiunt ad hanc praesentiam se accedere posse potissimum adoranti silentio institutos, quandoquidem in summa Dei cognitione et experientia est eius transcendentia. Illuc per orantem Sacrorum Bibliorum liturgiaeque appropriationem pervenitur, potius quam per constantem meditationem.

In the humble acceptance of the creature's limits before the infinite transcendence of a God who never ceases to reveal himself as God-Love, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the joy of the Holy Spirit, I see expressed the attitude of prayer and the theological method which the East prefers and continues to offer all believers in Christ.

Hac in demissa acceptione termini creaturae coram infinita transcendentia Dei, qui veluti Deum Amorem non desinit se revelare, Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi, in Spiritus Sancti gaudio, modum reperimus Nos orandi et rationem theologicam quae magis ab Oriente probatur quseque omnibus pariter in Christo credentibus exhibetur.

We must confess that we all have need of this silence, filled with the presence of him who is adored: in theology, so as to exploit fully its own sapiential and spiritual soul; in prayer, so that we may never forget that seeing God means coming down the mountain with a face so radiant that we are obliged to cover it with a veil (cf. Ex 34:33), and that our gatherings may make room for God's presence and avoid self-celebration; in preaching, so as not to delude ourselves that it is enough to heap word upon word to attract people to the experience of God, in commitment, so that we will refuse to be locked in a struggle without love and forgiveness. This is what man needs today; he is often unable to be silent for fear of meeting himself, of feeling the emptiness that asks itself about meaning; man who deafens himself with noise. All, believers and non- believers alike, need to learn a silence that allows the Other to speak when and how he wishes, and allows us to understand his words.

Fatendum est nos omnes hoc silentio indigere, adorata praesentia imbuto: theologia ut sapientialis spiritalisque eius anima plene aestimetur; precatio, ne umquam obliviscatur Deum videre idem valere ac de monte descendere vultu ita splendenti, ut eum cogamur obvolvere (cfr. Ex 34, 33), utque nostrae congressiones locum dent Dei praesentiae, vitantes ne se ipsas celebrent; praedicatio, ne putet satis esse verba multiplicare, ut quis ad Dei experientiam alliciatur; officium, ut reiciatur periculum certamine quodam concludi sine amore et vema. zostrae aetatls homini silentio illo opus est, qui conticescere saepe nescit, verens ne se ipse inveniat, sibi revelet, inanitatem sentiat, quae significationem requirit; homo, qui ob clamorem obstupescit. Omnibus nempe, credentibus et non credentibus, discendum est silentium, quo Alter sinatur loqui, quando et quomodo volet, nobis vero verbum illud intellegere liceat.

17. Thirty years have passed since the Bishops of the Catholic Church, meeting in Council in the presence of many brothers from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, listened to the voice of the Spirit as he shed light on deep truths about the nature of the Church, showing that all believers in Christ were far closer than they could imagine, all journeying towards the one Lord, all sustained and supported by his grace. An ever more pressing invitation to unity emerged at that point.

17. Triginta transierunt anni ex quo Ecclesiae catholicae Episcopi, in Concilio coadunati, non paucis aliarum Ecclesiarum Communitatumque ecclesialium adstantibus fratribus, Spiritus vocem exaudierunt qui altas veritates collustrabat de Ecclesiae natura, sic patefaciens in Christo credentes multo inter se esse propinquiores quam suspicari possent, omnes ad Dominum iter facientes unum, omnes eadem eius gratia fulcitos et sustentatos. Apparebat hinc invitatio usque instantior ad unitatem.

Since then, much ground has been covered in reciprocal knowledge. This has increased our respect and has frequently enabled us to pray to the one Lord together and to pray for one another, on a path of love that is already a pilgrimage of unity.

Ex illo tempore multa via in mutua cognitione est confecta. Auxit ipsa aestimationem sivitque ut una simul unum Dominum precaremur, alii etiam pro aliis, iter facientes caritatis, quod iam est unitatis peregrinatio.

After the important steps taken by Pope Paul VI, I have wished the path of mutual knowledge in charity to be continued. I can testify to the deep joy that the fraternal meeting with so many heads and representatives of Churches and Ecclesial Communities has given me in recent years. Together we have shared our concerns and expectations, together we have called for union between our Churches and peace for the world. Together we have felt more responsible for the common good, not only as individuals, but in the name of the Christians whose Pastors the Lord has made us. Sometimes urgent appeals from other Churches, threatened or stricken with violence and abuse have reached this See of Rome. It has sought to open its heart to them all. As soon as he could, the Bishop of Rome has raised his voice for them, so that people of goodwill might hear the cry of those suffering brothers and sisters of ours.

Post Pauli VI multos conatus, semitam cognitionis mutuae caritatis prosequendam voluimus et Nos. Ingentem quidem laetitiam testari licet, quam Nobis his annis tot Moderatorum et Procuratorum Ecclesiarum et ecclesialium Communitatum attulit occursus. Una simul sollicitudines et exspectationes participavimus, una unitatem inter nostras Ecclesias invocavimus et pro mundo pacem. Una simul boni communis facti sumus magis conscii, non modo veluti singuli. verum tanquam christianorum sustinentes partes, quorum Dominus nos posuit pastores. Nonnunquam ad Sedem hanc Apostolicam instanter decurrerunt aliae Ecclesiae, minationibus affectae aut vi iniuriaque ictae. Omnibus illa cor suum pandere est conata. Pro iis, cum fieri potuit, vox intenta est Romani Episcopi, ut homines bonae voluntatis fratrum nostrorum dolentium clamorem auscultarent.

"Among the sins which require a greater commitment to repentance and conversion should certainly be counted those which have been ‘detrimental to the unity willed by God for his People.’ In the course of the thousand years now drawing to a dose, even more than in the first millennium ecclesial communion has been painfully wounded, a fact for which, ‘often enough, men of both sides were to blame’.[36] Such wounds openly contradict the will of Christ and are a cause of scandal to the world. These sins of the past unfortunately still burden us and remain ever present temptations. It is necessary to make amends for them and earnestly to beseech Christ's forgiveness".[37]

«Inter delicta vero, quae maius secum important officium sive obligationem paenitentiae atque conversionis, numeranda certissime illa sunt quae "unitati a Deo optatae pro Populo Dei nocuerunt." Progredientibus hisee mille annis qui iamiam terminantur, multo etiam magis quam per primum millennium, ecclesialis communio "quandoque non sine hominum utriusque partis culpa,"[36] luctifica subiit discidia quae voluntati Christi aperte repugnant atque totum orbem offendunt. Talia temporis superioris crimina etiamnum, pro dolor, faciunt ut proprium pondus sentiatur maneantque totidem praesenti quoque tempore invitamenta. Necesse omnino est satisfactionem peragere, Christi invocata vehementer indulgentia ».[37]

The sin of our separation is very serious: I feel the need to increase our common openness to the Spirit who calls us to conversion, to accept and recognize others with fraternal respect, to make fresh, courageous gestures, able to dispel any temptation to turn back. We feel the need to go beyond the degree of communion we have reached.

Nostri discidii peceatum est pergrave: persentimus necessitatem ut communiter promptiores Spiritui vocanti ad conversionem nos praestemus, ad proximum accipiendum agnoscendumque fraterna caritate, paratiores ad animosos actus novos complendos, qui cuncta invitamenta ad regrediendum exsolvant. Necesse nempe habemus communionem illam, quam sumus assecuti, praetergredi.

18. Every day, I have a growing desire to go over the history of the Churches, in order to write at last a history of our unity and thus return to the time when, after the Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Gospel spread to the most varied cultures and a most fruitful exchange began which still today is evidenced in the liturgies of the Churches. Despite difficulties and differences, the letters of the Apostles (cf. 2 Cor 9: 11-14) and of the Fathers[38] show very close, fraternal links between the Churches in a full communion of faith, with respect for their specific features and identity. The common experience of martyrdom and meditation on the acts of the martyrs of every Church, sharing in the doctrine of so many holy teachers of the faith, in deep exchange and sharing strengthen this wonderful feeling of unity.[39] The development of different experiences of ecclesial life did not prevent Christians, through mutual relations, from continuing to feel certain that they were at home in any Church, because praise of the one Father, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, rose from them all, in a marvelous variety of languages and melodies; all were gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist, the heart and model for the community regarding not only spirituality and the moral life, but also the Church's very structure, in the variety of ministries and services under the leadership of the Bishop, successor of the Apostles.[40] The first Councils are an eloquent witness to this enduring unity in diversity.[41]

18. Magis magisque in dies desiderio flagramus Ecclesiarum annales repetendi, ut nostrae unitatis res gestas tandem scribamus, atque tempus illud revocemus, cum post Domini Iesu mortem et resurrectionem, Evangelium diversissimos cultus attigit, atque fecundissima qusedam permutatio est incohata, quam etiamnunc Ecclesiarum liturgiae testantur. Quamvis sint difficultates et dissensiones, Apostolorum Epistulae (cfr. 2 Cor 9, 11-14) et Patrum[38] artissima prae se ferunt vincula, eademque fraterna inter Ecclesias, in plena fidei communione, proprietate cuiusque identitateque retentis. Communis martyrii experientia atque martyrum singularum Ecclesiarum actuum meditatio, tot sanctorum fidei Magistrorum doctrinae participatio, multa cum divulgatione et participatione, hunc unitatis mirabilem sensum roborant.[39] Processus differentium experientiarum vitae ecclesialis non impediebat quominus per mutuas necessitudines christiani perstarent in persuasione qualibet in Ecclesia se in domo sua esse, quandoquidem ex omnibus Ecclesiis, mirabili cum quadam linguarum varietate modulationeque, uni Patri, per Christum, in Spiritu, laus efferebatur; cunctae erant coadunatae ad Eucharistiam celebrandam, communitati cor et exemplar non modo quod ad spiritalitatem vitamve moralem spectat, verum et ad ipsam Ecclesiae structuram, in ministeriorum munerumque varietate, praeside Episcopo, Apostolorum successore.[40] Prima concilia hanc in diversitate unitatem liquido testantur.[41]

Even when certain dogmatic misunderstandings became reinforced—often magnified by the influence of political and cultural factors—leading to sad consequences in relations between the Churches, the effort to call for and to promote the unity of the Church remained alive. When the ecumenical dialogue first began, the Holy Spirit enabled us to be strengthened in our common faith, a perfect continuation of the apostolic kerygma, and for this we thank God with all our heart.[42] Although in the first centuries of the Christian era conflicts were already slowly starting to emerge within the body of the Church, we cannot forget that unity between Rome and Constantinople endured for the whole of the first rnillennium, despite difficulties. We have increasingly learned that it was not so much an historical episode or a mere question of pre-eminence that tore the fabric of unity, as it was a progressive estrangement, so that the other's diversity was no longer perceived as a common treasure but as incompatibility. Even when the second millennium experienced a hardening of the polemics and the separation, with mutual ignorance and prejudice increasing all the more, nonetheless constructive meetings between Church leaders desirous of intensifying relations and fostering exchanges did not cease, nor did the holy efforts of men and women who, recognizing the setting of one group against the other as a grave sin, and being in love with unity and charity, attempted in many ways to promote the search for communion by prayer, study and reflection, and by open and cordial interaction.[43] All this praiseworthy work was to converge in the reflections of the Second Vatican Council and to be symbolized in the abrogation of the reciprocal excommunications of 1054 by Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I.[44]

Cum etiam quaedam dogmaticae dissensiones confirmatse sunt-quas saepenumero politica culturaliaque elementa amplificarunt - quae tum acerba consectaria genuerunt in Ecclesiarum necessitudinibus, unitatem Ecclesiae desiderandi et promovendi studiosus usque perstitit nisus. In primo dialogo illo oecumenico instituendo Spiritus Sanctus effecit ut in communi fide confirmaremur, quae est kerygmatis apostolici perfecta continuatio, atque hac de re ex animo Deo gratias agimus.[42] Si vero iam primaeva christianorum aetate intra ipsam Ecclesiae compagem discordiae paulatim oriri consueverunt, oblivisci non possumus cunctum per primum millennium, etsi quaedam fuerunt difficultates, inter Romam et Constantinopolim mansisse unitatem. Clarius usque didicimus unitatis contextum non quendam historicum eventum rescidisse meramve praeminentiae quaestionem, sed progredientem alienationem, ita ut alterius diversitas iam non veluti communis thesaurus intellegeretur, sed tamquam repugnantia. Cum quoque alterum millennium acriores contentiones et divisiones novit, cum scilicet magis mutua ignoratio ac praeiudicium magis increbrescunt, tamen non intermittunt utiles Ecclesiarum praesidum congressiones necessitudines multiplicare cupientium, sicut sacrum virorum et mulierum opus non desinit, qui, dissensionem habentes grave peccatum atque unitati caritatique studentes, multimodis, precatione, scientia, cogitatione, aperto amabilique animo communionem perquirendam contenderunt.[43] Totum hoc opus probandum in Concilii Vaticani II meditationem illatum est atque suum invenit signum in mutuis excommunicationibus anni MLIV ablatis, quas Summus Pontifex Paulus VI et oecumenicus Patriarcha Athenagoras aboleverunt.[44]

19. The way of charity is experiencing new moments of difficulty following the recent events which have involved Central and Eastern Europe. Christian brothers and sisters who together had suffered persecution are regarding one another with suspicion and fear just when prospects and hopes of greater freedom are appearing: is this not a new, serious risk of sin which we must all make every effort to overcome, if we want the peoples who are seeking the God of love to be able to find him more easily, instead of being scandalized anew by our wounds and conflicts? When, on Good Friday 1994, His Holiness Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople, offered the Church of Rome his meditations on the Way of the Cross, I recalled this communion in the recent experience of martyrdom: "...We are united in these martyrs from Rome, from the 'Hill of Crosses', the Solovets Islands and so many other extermination camps. We are united against the background of these martyrs, we cannot fail to be united".[45]

19. Caritatis gressus novas difficultatum rationes novit propter recentes eventus, qui medianam orientalemque Europam implicuerunt. Christiani fratres qui una persecutionem perpessi sunt, se suspectos et metuendos habent, cum maioris libertatis prospectus et spes recluduntur: nonne est hoc magnum peccati periculum, quod omnes, coniunctis viribus, vincere debemus, si quidem volumus gentes quaeritantes commodius amoris Deum inveniant, potius quam rursus nostris divisionibus et contentionibus scandalizentur? Cum occasione Feriae Sextae in Parasceve anno mcmxciv, Sua Sanctitas Bartholomaeus I, Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus, Ecclesiam Romanam suo donavit meditationis volumine « De Crucis via », hanc communionem memoravimus in recenti martyrii experientia: « In his martyribus nos coniunctionem inducimus inter Romam, "Montem Crucibus consitum" et insulas Solovki totque alia castra hominibus delendis. Nos qui martyribus circumsistentibus coniungimur, facere non possumus quin non iungamur ».[45 ]

Thus it is urgently necessary to become aware of this most serious responsibility: today we can co-operate in proclaiming the Kingdom or we can become the upholders of new divisions. May the Lord open our hearts, convert our minds and inspire in us concrete, courageous steps, capable if necessary of breaking through cliches, easy resignation or stalemate. If those who want to be first are called to become the servants of all, then the primacy of love will be seen to grow from the courage of this charity. I pray the Lord to inspire, first of all in myself and in the Bishops of the Catholic Church, concrete actions as a witness to this inner certitude. The deepest nature of the Church demands it. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, the sacrament of communion, we find in the Body and Blood we share the sacrament and the call to our unity.[46] How can we be fully credible if we stand divided before the Eucharist, if we cannot live our sharing in the same Lord whom we are called to proclaim to the world? In view of our reciprocal exclusion from the Eucharist, we feel our poverty and the need to make every effort so that the day may come when we will partake together of the same bread and the same cup.[47] Then the Eucharist will once again be fully perceived as a prophecy of the Kingdom, and these words from a very ancient Eucharistic Prayer will resound with full truth: "Just as this broken bread, once scattered on the hills and gathered up, became one, so may your Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom".[48]

Omnino igitur urget ut conscii huius gravissimi officii fiamus: hodie consociatam operam ad Regnum enuntiandum sustinere possumus vel auctores novarum divisionum constitui. Recludat corda nostra Dominus, mentes nostras convertat atque certa promptaque nos doceat incepta, quae, si opus fuerit, locos communes, animi remissiones vel stativas mansiones dissipare valeant. Si qui vult esse primus ad omnibus serviendum vocatur, profecto ex huius caritatis virtute amoris principatus crescet. Dominum deprecamur, ut imprimis Nos ipsos, deinde catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopos, ad certas actiones inducat quae hanc interiorem persuasionem testentur. Id Ecclesiae altior natura requirit. Quotiescumque Eucharistiam celebramus, communionis sacramentum, in Corpore et Sanguine communicato invenimus sacramentum atque appellationem ad unitatem nostram.[46] Quomodo penitus probabiles fieri possumus si seiuncti ad Eucharistiam accedimus, si eundem Dominum experiri et participare non valemus, quem mundo enuntiare debemus? Prae mutua ab Eucharistia remotione nostram paupertatem animadvertimus ac simul necessitatem omnimodis operandi ut is veniat dies quo una eundem panem eundemque calicem participabimus.4' Tunc tandem Eucharistia plene percipietur veluti Regni prophetia atque omni veritate verba ex perantiqua quadam eucharistica prece deprompta, personabunt: « Sicut hic panis fractus super montes dispersus erat et collectus factus est unus, ita colligatur Ecclesia tua a finibus terrae in regnum tuum. »[48]

20. Particularly significant anniversaries encourage us to turn our thoughts with affection and reverence to the Eastern Churches. First of all, as has been said, the centenary of the Apostolic Letter Orientalium dignitas. Since that time a journey began which has led among other things, in 1917, to the creation of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches[49] and the foundation of the Pontifical Oriental Institute[50] by Pope Benedict XV. Subsequently, on 5 June 1960 John XXIII founded the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.[51] In recent times, on 18 October 1990, I promulgated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches,[52] in order to safeguard and to promote the specific features of the Eastern heritage.

20. Peculiares insignesque commemorationes nos confirmant ut ad orientales Ecclesias cum animi affectu et observantia cogitationes nostras convertamus. Ante omnia, ut supra dictum est, centesimus annus Litterarum Apostolicarum, quarum titulus Orientalium dignitas. Ex tunc iter incohavit, quod, praeter alia, anno mcmxvii ad Congregationem pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus instituendam perduxit[49] atque ad Pontificium Institutum Orientale condendum,50 auctore Summo Pontifice Benedicto XV. Exinde, die v mensis Iunii anno mcmlx, a Papa Ioanne XXIII Secretariatus ad unitatem Christianorum fovendam est constitutus.[51] Recentiore aetate, die xviii mensis Octobris anno mcmxc Codicem Canonum Orientalium Ecclesiarum[52] evulgavimus, ad peculiarem indolem orientalis patrimonii servandam provehendamque.

These are signs of an attitude that the Church of Rome has always felt was an integral part of the mandate entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Apostle Peter: to confirm his brothers in faith and unity (cf. Lk 22:32). Attempts in the past had their limits, deriving from the mentality of the times and the very understanding of the truths about the Church. But here I would like to reassert that this commitment is rooted in the conviction that Peter (cf. Mt 19:17-19) intends to place himself at the service of a Church united in charity. "Peter's task is to search constantly for ways that will help preserve unity. Therefore he must not create obstacles but must open up paths. Nor is this in any way at odds with the duty entrusted to him by Christ: 'strengthen your brothers in the faith' (cf. Lk 22:32). It is significant that Christ said these words precisely at the moment when Peter was about to deny him. It was as if the Master himself wanted to tell Peter: 'Remember that you are weak, that you, too, need endless conversion. You are able to strengthen others only insofar as you are aware of your own weakness. I entrust to you as your responsibility the truth, the great truth of God, meant for man's salvation, but this truth cannot be preached or put into practice except by loving'. Veritatem facere in caritate (To live the truth in love, cf. Eph 4:15); this is what is always necessary".[53] Today we know that unity can be achieved through the love of God only if the Churches want it together, in full respect for the traditions of each and for necessary autonomy. We know that this can take place only on the basis of the love of Churches which feel increasingly called to manifest the one Church of Christ, born from one Baptism and from one Eucharist, and which want to be sisters.[54] As I had occasion to say: "the Church of Christ is one. If divisions exist that is one thing; they must be overcome, but the Church is one, the Church of Christ between East and West can only be one, one and united".[55]

Haec sunt profecto cuiusdam propositi signa, quod Romana Ecclesia semper necessariam existimavit partem mandati a Christo Iesu concrediti Petro apostolo: fratres scilicet in fide unitateque confirmare (cfr. Lc 22, 32). Praeterita conamina mentibus rationibusve temporum illorum terminabantur ipsaque notitia veritatum de Ecclesia. At hic confirmare velimus officium hoc in sua ipsa radice opinionem comprehendere hanc, Petrum (cfr. Mt 16, 17-19) videlicet Ecclesiae in caritate coniunctae inservire velle. « Petri munus illuc continenter spectat, ut appositae viae ad unitatem servandam usque perquirantur. Idcirco ipse impedimenta afferre non debet, sed vias vestigare. Quae res minime obsistit officio a Christo demandato "fratres confirmandi in fide" (cfr. Lc 22, 32). Significans praeterea est dixisse Christum haec verba, tempore ipso cum apostolus Eum negaturus erat. Tamquam si Magister dicere vellet: "Memento te esse debilem, te quoque continenter indigere conversione. Ceteros confirmare potes quatenus tibi conscius es tuae imbecillitatis. Tibi velut officium trado veritatem, magnam quidem Dei veritatem hominis saluti destinatam, sed veritas haec nulla alia ratione quam amando praedicari potest". "Veritatem facere in caritate" semper necesse est (cfr Eph 4, 15) ».[53] Novimus quidem nunc unitatem Dei amore effici posse tantum si Ecelesiae una simul id velint, singulis traditionibus plane observatis et necessaria autonomia. Istud scimus compleri posse dumtaxat cum initium ducitur ex amore Ecclesiarum quae magis magisque se sentiunt vocari ad unam Christi Ecclesiam significandam, quae ex uno baptismo orta est atque una eucharistia, quaeque sorores esse volunt.[54] Quemadmodum diximus, « una est Christi Ecclesia; si quae sunt divisiones eae sunt componendae, sed una est Ecclesia, Christi Ecclesia inter orientalem et occidentalem partem esse non potest nisi una, una scilicet et coniuncta ».[55]

Of course, in today's outlook it appears that true union is possible only in total respect for the other's dignity without claiming that the whole array of uses and customs in the Latin Church is more complete or better suited to showing the fullness of correct doctrine; and again, that this union must be preceded by an awareness of communion that permeates the whole Church and is not limited to an agreement among leaders. Today we are conscious—and this has frequently been reasserted—that unity will be achieved how and when the Lord desires, and that it will require the contribution of love's sensitivity and creativity, perhaps even going beyond the forms already tried in history.[56]

Certe, hodiernae menti videtur vera coniunctio fieri posse aliorum plene observata dignitate, dempta simul illa opinione universos mores et consuetudines Ecclesiae Latinae pleniores esse et aptiores ad rectam doctrinam demonstrandam; atque insuper talem coniunctionem conscientia communionis praeire debere, quae totam Ecclesiam imbuat neque inter primores solummodo constituat foedus. Hodie nobis conscii sumus-quod saepenumero confirmatum est-unitatem futuram esse quando et quemadmodum Dominus volet, atque ipsam requirere collationem roboris sentiendi et caritatis operativae, illis etiam posthabitis forsitan formis, historice iam probatis.[56]

21. The Eastern Churches which entered into full communion with Rome wished to be an expression of this concern, according to the degree of maturity of the ecclesial awareness of the time.[57] In entering into catholic communion, they did not at all intend to deny their fidelity to their own tradition, to which they have borne witness down the centuries with heroism and often by shedding their blood. And if sometimes, in their relations with the Orthodox Churches, misunderstandings and open opposition have arisen, we all know that we must ceaselessly implore divine mercy and a new heart capable of reconciliation over and above any wrong suffered or inflicted.

21. Orientales Ecclesiae, quae in plenam cum hac Romana Ecclesia communionem sunt ingressae, eiusmodi sollicitudinis patefactionem se praebuerunt, ea ratione significatae quam illa aetate ecclesialis conscientiae gradus patiebatur.[57] Communionem catholicam ingredientes, pernegare minime voluerunt erga suas traditiones fidelitatem, quas saeculorum decursu forti animo atque saepe impendio sanguinis sunt testatae. Sin autem interdum in necessitudinibus cum orthodoxis Ecclesiis falsae opinationes ac manifestae contentiones exstiterunt, plane novimus continenter nobis divinam misericordiam esse implorandam simulque cor novum ad reconciliationem efficiendum, praeter iniurias acceptas illatasve.

It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality.[58] Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have "the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own special disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition, and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls".[59] These Churches carry a tragic wound, for they are still kept from full communion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches despite sharing in the heritage of their fathers. A constant, shared conversion is indispensable for them to advance resolutely and energetically towards mutual understanding. And conversion is also required of the Latin Church, that she may respect and fully appreciate the dignity of Eastern Christians and accept gratefully the spiritual treasures of which the Eastern Catholic Churches are the bearers, to the benefit of the entire catholic communion;[60] that she may show concretely, far more than in the past, how much she esteems and admires the Christian East and how essential she considers its contribution to the full realization of the Church's universality.

Plus quam semel confirmatum est orientalium Ecclesiarum catholicarum iam perfectam coniunctionem cum Romana Ecclesia minime prae se ferre conscientiae imminutionem propriae veritatis et nativae indolis.[58] Sin autem id accidit, Concilium Vaticanum II eas cohortatum est ut suam identitatem rursus planeque detegerent, cum ipsae « iure polleant et officio teneantur se secundum proprias disciplinas peculiares regendi, utpote quae veneranda antiquitate commendentur, moribus suorum fidelium magis sint congruae atque ad bonum animarum consulendum aptiores videantur ».[59] Ecclesiae hae suo in corpore gravissimam patiuntur lacerationem, quia adhuc plena prohibetur communio, cum orientalibus Ecclesiis orthodoxis quibuscum tametsi patrum suorum patrimonium participant. Constans communisque conversio omnino est necessaria, ut ipsae animose ac studiose contendant ut indulgentiae vinculis inter se nectantur. In Ecclesia quoque Latina postulatur conversio, quae absolute Orientalium dignitatem servet atque probet, gratoque animo spiritales thesauros suscipiat, quos orientales Ecclesiae catholicae in bonum totius catholicae communionis ministrant;[60] concrete, multoque magis quam antea, demonstret quanti aestimet et admiretur christianas Orientales partes, quantique momenti consideret id quod illae conferre valent, ut plene Ecclesiae universalitas agatur.

22. I have a keen desire that the words which Saint Paul addressed from the East to the faithful of the Church of Rome may resound today on the lips of Christians of the West with regard to their brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world" (Rom 1:8). The Apostle of the Gentiles then immediately and enthusiastically stated his intention: "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine" (Rom 1:11-12). Here, the dynamic of our meeting is wonderfully portrayed: knowledge of the treasures of others' faith—which I have just tried to describe—spontaneously produces the incentive for a new and more intimate meeting between brothers and sisters, which will be a true and sincere mutual exchange. It is an incentive which the Spirit constantly inspires in the Church and which becomes more insistent precisely in the moments of greatest difficulty.

22. Vehementer sane optamus ut verba quibus S. Paulus Romanae Ecclesiae christifideles ex orientali regione allocutus est hodie quoque in fidelium ore occidentalis regionis personent quod attinet ad orientalium Ecclesiarum fratres: « Primum quidem gratias ago Deo meo per Iesum Christum pro omnibus vobis, quia fides vestra annuntiatur in universo mundo » (Rom 1, 8). Atque statim post Gentium Apostolus mente incitata suum declarat propositum: « Desidero enim videre vos, ut aliquid impertiar gratiae vobis spiritalis ad confirmandos vos, id est una vobiscum consolari per eam, quse invicem est, fidem vestram atque meam » (Rom 1, 11-12). Mirum in modum hic occursationis dynamica vis designatur: cognitio thesaurorum fidei aliorum — quam mox exponere conati sumus — stimulationem sponte sua alit ad novam artioremque inter fratres occursationem, quae notas induat verae sinceraeque mutuae communicationis. De stimulatione agitur quam constanter in Ecclesia Spiritus concitat quaeque vehementior utique fit maioris difficultatis tempore.

23. I am also well aware that at this time certain tensions between the Church of Rome and some of the Eastern Churches are making the path of mutual esteem more difficult with regard to future communion. Several times this See of Rome has made a point of issuing directives favoring the common progress of all the Churches at so important a time for the life of the world, especially in Eastern Europe, where dramatic events of recent history have often prevented the Eastern Churches from properly fulfilling the mandate of evangelization which they nevertheless felt keenly.[61] Situations of greater freedom are offering them fresh opportunities today, although the means available to them are limited because of difficult circumstances in the countries where they are active. I would like forcefully to affirm that the communities of the West are ready to encourage in every way—and many are already working along these lines—the intensification of this ministry of "diakonia," making available to such Churches the experience acquired in the years when charity was more freely exercised. Woe to us if the abundance of some were to produce the humiliation of others or a sterile and scandalous rivalry. On their part, Western communities will make it their duty above all to share, where possible, service projects with their brothers and sisters in the Eastern Churches or to assist in bringing to a successful conclusion all that the latter are doing to help their people. In any case, in territories where both are present, the Western Communities will never show an attitude which could appear disrespectful of the exhausting efforts which the Eastern Churches are making, efforts which are all the more to their credit given the precariousness of the resources available to them.

23. Plane ceterum novimus hac aetate aliquot inter Romanam et quasdam Orientis Ecclesias contentiones asperiorem efficere mutuae existimationis viam ad concordiam. Saepius haec Romana Sedes edidit normas ad commune omnium Ecclesiarum fovendum iter hoc tempore tam gravi pro orbis terrarum vita, praesertim in Europa Orientali, ubi historici asperi eventus impediverunt quominus Ecclesiae Orientales, recentiore aetate, plene evangelizationis mandatum sibi quidem instans ad effectum adducerent.[61] Amplioris libertatis rerum condiciones iis praebent nunc renovatse opportunitates, quamquam opes in earum commodum positae sunt exiguae ob difficultates quibus laborant Nationes ubi illae operantur. Firmiter quidem optamus affirmare communitates Occidentales paratas esse ad favendum per omnia — et non paucae iam ad hoc operantur — huic diaconiae ministerio, suppeditando in talium Ecclesiarum commodum peritiam quam consecutae sunt tempore liberioris exercitii caritatis. Vae nobis si alterius prosperitas deiectio evaserit alterius vel causa futtilium et flagitiosarum aemulationum. Occidentales communitates vicissim officium suum servabunt praesertim communicandi, ubi fieri possit, proposita servitii cum Ecclesiarum Orientalium fratribus vel adiuvandi effectionem inceptorum ab illis initorum in ministerium suorum populorum, utcumque vero numquam ostentabunt, in promiscuae praesentiae locis, eam agendi rationem quae neglegens videatur laboriosorum conatuum quos Orientales Ecclesiae peracturae sunt, eo laudabiliores quo infirmiores sunt eorum facultates.

To extend gestures of common charity to one another and jointly to those in need will appear as an act with immediate impact. To avoid this or even to witness to the contrary, will make all those who observe us think that every commitment to a rapprochement in charity between the Churches is merely an abstract statement, without conviction or concreteness.

Communis caritatis gestus enuntiare alterius in alteram atque una simul erga homines indigentes, actus fiet verae eloquentiae. Quod si devitabitur vel contrarium dabitur testimonium, quotquot nos considerant in cogitationem inducentur inceptum reconciliationis inter Ecclesias in caritate enuntiationem tantummodo esse a rebus sevocatam, absque ulla persuasione concretique ratione.

I feel that the Lord's call to work in every way to ensure that all believers in Christ will witness together to their own faith is fundamental, especially in the territories where the children of the Catholic Church—Latin and Eastern—and children of the Orthodox Churches live together in large numbers. After their common martyrdom suffered for Christ under the oppression of atheist regimes, the time has come to suffer, if necessary, in order never to fail in the witness of charity among Christians, for even if we gave our body to be burned but had not charity, it would serve no purpose (cf. 1 Cor 13:3). We must pray intensely that the Lord will soften our minds and hearts and grant us patience and meekness.

Fundamentalem sentimus Nos Domini invitationem ad agendum omnimodis ut omnes in Christum credentes una suam fidem testentur, in terris praesertim ubi densior est consociatio inter filios Ecclesiae catholicae — Latinos et Orientales — et filios Ecclesiae orthodoxae. Post commune martyrium pro Christo sustentum vexationis aetate athearum administrationum, tempus venit patiendi, si necesse sit, ne deficiat caritatis testimonium inter christianos: nam et si tradiderimus corpus nostrum ut aduratur, caritatem autem non habuerimus, nihil nobis proderit (cfr. 1 Cor 13, 3). Necesse est oremus semper ut Dominus nostras mentes et corda nostra moveat atque nobis patientiam det benignitatemque.

24. I believe that one important way to grow in mutual understanding and unity consists precisely in improving our knowledge of one another. The children of the Catholic Church already know the ways indicated by the Holy See for achieving this: to know the liturgy of the Eastern Churches;[62] to deepen their knowledge of the spiritual traditions of the Fathers and doctors of the Christian East,[63] to follow the example of the Eastern Churches for the inculturation of the Gospel message; to combat tensions between Latins and Orientals and to encourage dialogue between Catholics and the Orthodox; to train in specialized institutions theologians, liturgists, historians and canonists for the Christian East who in turn can spread knowledge of the Eastern churches; to offer appropriate teaching on these subjects in seminaries and theological faculties, especially to future priests.[64] These remain very sound recommendations on which I intend to insist with particular force.

24. Putamus sane magnum pondus ad crescendum in mutua comprehensione atque unitate tribuendum esse meliori mutuae intellegentiae. Catholicae Ecclesiae filii iam noverunt vias quas Sancta Sedes significavit ut ii eiusmodi propositum consequi valeant: liturgiam Ecclesiarum Orientalium noscere;[62] altius perscrutari cognitionem traditionum spiritalium Patrum Doctorumque Orientis christiani;[63] exemplum sumere ab Ecclesiis Orientalibus ad nuntii Evangelii adeptionem; animi contentiones removere inter Latinos et Orientales atque dialogum inter catholicos et orthodoxos concitare; in institutis peculiariter paratis pro Oriente christiano theologos formare atque magistros liturgiae, historiae et iuris canonici, qui disseminare valeant, vicissim, ecclesiarum Orientalium cognitionem; praebere in Seminariis et in facultatibus theologicis, futuris praesertim sacerdotibus, institutionem de iis disciplinis aptam.[64] Sunt suasiones semper profecto validae, quibus insistere volumus peculiari instantia.

25. In addition to knowledge, I feel that meeting one another regularly is very important. In this regard, I hope that monasteries will make a particular effort, precisely because of the unique role played by monastic life within the Churches and because of the many unifying aspects of the monastic experience, and therefore of spiritual awareness, in the East and in the West. Another form of meeting consists in welcoming Orthodox professors and students to the Pontifical Universities and other Catholic academic institutions. We will continue to do all we can to extend this welcome on a wider scale. May God also bless the founding and development of places designed precisely to offer hospitality to our brothers of the East, including such places in this city of Rome where the living, shared memory of the leaders of the Apostles and of so many martyrs is preserved. It is important that meetings and exchanges should involve Church communities in the broadest forms and ways. We know for example how positive interparish activities such as "twinning" can be for mutual cultural and spiritual enrichment, and also for the exercise of charity.

25. Praeter cognitionem, magni ponderis ducimus mutuam necessitudinem. Hac in re exoptamus quidem ut monasteria singularem quandam operam dent, ob partes prorsus peculiares quas vita monachica intra Ecclesias explet atque plurimas ob res quae experientiam monachicam consociant, ideoque spiritalem sensum, in Oriente et in Occidente. Alia quaedam occursus forma in liberali consistit hospitio magistrorum auditorumque apud Pontificias Studiorum Universitates atque apud alia catholica academica instituta. Quantum fieri poterit pergemus ut eiusmodi hospitalitas usque augeatur. Faveat Deus etiam ortui et incremento locorum quae hospitalitati destinantur nostrorum fratrum Orientalium, hac etiam in Urbe Roma, quae vivam tenet communemque memoriam coryphaeorum Apostolorum atque tot martyrum. Multum interest ut occursus et commercii incepta latiore ratione amplioribusque formis ecclesiales implicent communitates: novimus, exempli gratia, quantum momentum habeant necessitudinis incepta inter paroecias, veluti « gemellas » factas ad mutuum culturale et spiritale incrementum, etiam in caritatis ministerio.

I judge very positively the initiatives of joint pilgrimages to places where holiness is particularly expressed in remembering men and women who in every age have enriched the Church with the sacrifice of their lives. In this direction it would also be a highly significant act to arrive at a common recognition of the holiness of those Christians who, in recent decades, particularly in the countries of Eastern Europe, have shed their blood for the one faith in Christ.

Absolute probabilia ducimus incepta communium peregrinationum ad loca ubi sanctitatis signa peculiari ratione sunt indicata, memoria hominum mulierumque qui omni aetate ipsius vitae impendio Ecclesiam locupletaverunt. Hac in re praestat sane pervenire ad communem sanctitatis agnitionem illorum christianorum qui postremis decenniis, praesertim in Nationibus Orientalis Europae, sanguinem suum pro unica fide in Christum effuderunt.

26. A particular thought goes to the lands of the diaspora where many faithful of the Eastern Churches who have left their countries of origin are living in a mainly Latin environment. These places, where peaceful contact is easier within a pluralist society, could be an ideal environment for improving and intensifying co-operation between the Churches in training future priests and in pastoral and charitable projects, also for the benefit of the Orientals' countries of origin.

26. Singulari autem cogitatione prosequimur dissipationis terras in quibus vitam agunt, in ambitu ubi maior pars est Latina, multi fideles orientalium Ecclesiarum quae nativas terras reliquerunt. Haec loca, ubi facilior fit serena necessitudo intra societatem multiplicem, fieri possunt optimus ambitus ad meliorem efficiendam augendamque mutuam inter Ecclesias operam in futurorum sacerdotum institutione, in pastoralibus et beneficis inceptis, etiam pro Orientalium terris patriis.

I particularly urge the Latin Ordinaries in these countries to study attentively grasp thoroughly and apply faithfully the principles issued by this Holy See concerning ecumenical co-operation[65] and the pastoral care of the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches, especially when they lack their own hierarchy.

Hortamur peculiari ratione Latinos Ordinarios illarum Nationum ad diligentem considerationem, ad plenam comprehensionem adque fidelem inductionem praeceptorum a Sancta hac Sede enuntiatorum de mutua opera oecumenica[65] deque pastorali curatione fidelium Ecclesiarum Orientalium catholicarum, praesertim ubi propria Hierarchia carent.

I invite the Eastern Catholic Bishops and clergy to collaborate closely with the Latin Ordinaries for an effective apostolate which is not fragmented, especially when their jurisdiction covers immense territories where the absence of co-operation means, in effect isolation. The Eastern Catholic Bishops will not neglect any means of encouraging an atmosphere of brotherhood, sincere mutual esteem and co-operation with their brothers in the Churches with which we are not yet united in full communion, especially with those who belong to the same ecclesial tradition.

Invitamus sacrorum Antistites et Orientalem clerum catholicum ut artam consocient operam cum Latinis Ordinariis ad validum pastorale ministerium omnibus patens, praesertim cum eorum iurisdictionis potestas in terras admodum dissitas dilatatur ubi cooperationis absentia reapse significat segregationem. Praepositi Orientales catholici nullam praeteribunt viam ad condiciones fovendas fratemitatis, sincerae mutuaeque aestimationis, atque communis operae cum fratribus Ecclesiarum quibuscum nondum plena communio nos iungit, singulariter in eos quibus eadem est ecclesialis traditio.

Where in the West there are no Eastern priests to look after the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Latin Ordinaries and their co-workers should see that those faithful grow in the awareness and knowledge of their own tradition, and they should be invited to co-operate actively in the growth of the Christian community by making their own particular contribution.

In Occidente ubi Orientales non adsint sacerdotes qui assistant fidelibus orientalium Ecclesiarum catholicarum, Latini Ordinarii eorumque cooperatores operam dent ut apud fideles illos conscientia et cognitio augescant eorum traditionum, atque ipsi vocentur ad naviter cooperandum, peculiari industria sua, christianae communitatis incremento.

27. With regard to monasticism, in consideration of its importance in Eastern Christianity, we would like it to flourish once more in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and that support be given to all those who feel called to work for its revitalization.[66] In fact, in the East an intrinsic link exists between liturgical prayer, spiritual tradition and monastic life. For this reason precisely, a well-trained and motivated renewal of monastic life could mean true ecclesial fruitfulness for them as well. Nor should it be thought that this would diminish the effectiveness of the pastoral ministry which in fact will be strengthened by such a vigorous spirituality, and thus will find once more its ideal place. This hope also concerns the territories of the Eastern diaspora, where the presence of Eastern monasteries would give greater stability to the Eastern Churches in those countries, and would make a valuable contribution to the religious life of Western Christians.

27. Quod pertinet ad monachicam vitam, prae oculis habito eius momento in Orientali christianismo, optamus sane ut ea vigeat in Ecclesiis orientalibus catholicis atque firmentur quotquot vocatos se noverint ad eiusmodi confirmationis operam.[66] Exsistit enim insitum vinculum inter liturgicam precem, spiritalem traditionem vitamque monachicam in Oriente. Hanc ob causam, etiam pro iis vitae monachicae instauratio recte composita atque comprobata significare potest novum quendam ecclesialem florem. Nec putandum est hoc minuere posse ministerii pastoralis efficientiam, immo hac acri spiritalitate corroborabitur atque reperiet ita aptam suam collocationem. Eiusmodi auspicium etiam ad terras dissipationis Orientalis refertur, ubi monasteriorum Orientalium praesentia tribuat maiorem soliditatem ipsis Ecclesiis Orientalibus iis in Nationibus, et perutile insuper adiumentum praebeat religiosae christianorum Occidentalium vitae.

28. In concluding this Letter, my thoughts turn to my beloved brothers and sisters the Patriarchs Bishops, Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the men and women of the Eastern Churches.

28. Dum finem facimus huius Epistulae, mens Nostra decurrit ad dilectos Fratres Patriarchas, Episcopos, Presbyteros et Diaconos, Monachos et Monachas, viros et mulieres Ecclesiarum Orientalium.

On the threshold of the third millennium we all hear in our Sees the cry of those oppressed by the burden of grave threats, but who, perhaps even without realizing it, long to know what God in his love intended. These people feel that a ray of light, if it is welcomed is capable of dispelling the shadows which cover the horizon of the Father's tenderness.

Tertio iam adventante millennio pervenire animadvertimus clamorem hominum gravium minationum pondere veluti contritorum et tamen, ipsis vel nescientibus, amoris historiam a Deo statutam cognoscendi appetentium. Persentiunt homines illi luminis radium quendam, si exceptum, posse adhuc tenebras dissipare a finibus benignitatis Patris.

Mary, "Mother of the star that never sets" [67] "dawn of the mystical day", [68] "rising of the sun of glory", [69] shows us the Orientale Lumen.

Maria, « sideris numquam decidentis Mater »[67], « mysticae diei aurora », [68] « gloriosi Solis oriens »,[69] Orientale lumen nobis proponit.

Every day in the East the sun of hope rises again the light that restores life to the human race. It is from the East, according to a lovely image, that our Savior will come again (cf. Mt 24:27).

Ab Oriente cotidie spei sol dilucescit, lucem dicimus quae humano generi exsistentiam reddit. Ab Oriente, sicut pulchra refert imago, Salvator noster redibit (cfr. Mt 24, 27).

For us, the men and women of the East are a symbol of the Lord who comes again. We cannot forget them, not only because we love them as brothers and sisters redeemed by the same Lord, but also because a holy nostalgia for the centuries lived in the full communion of faith and charity urges us and reproaches us for our sins and our mutual misunderstandings: we have deprived the world of a joint witness that could, perhaps, have avoided so many tragedies and even changed the course of history.

Orientis viri mulieresque sunt nobis Domini revertentis signum. Eorum oblivisci non possumus, non dumtaxat quia diligimus eos veluti fratres sororesque ab eodem ipso Domino redemptos, sed etiam quia sancta saeculorum in plena fidei caritatisque communione peractorum memoria urget nos, peccata nostra exprobrat nobis, mutuas inclementias nostras: detraximus nos orbi terrarum communem testificationem, quae, forsitan, tot tristes casus vitare potuisset, immo vel historiae mutare cursum.

We are painfully aware that we cannot yet share in the same Eucharist. Now that the millennium is drawing to a close and our gaze turns to the rising Sun, with gratitude we find these men and women before our eyes and in our heart.

Dolore sane affecti animadvertimus nondum posse nos eandem Eucharistiam participare. Hoc millennio iam exeunte nostroque obtutu ad orientem solem se convertente, grato profecto animo reperimus eos in conspectus nostri nostrique cordis itinere.

The echo of the Gospel—the words that do not disappoint—continues to resound with force, weakened only by our separation: Christ cries out, but man finds it hard to hear his voice, because we fail to speak with one accord. We listen together to the cry of those who want to hear God’s entire Word. The words of the West need the words of the East, so that God's word may ever more clearly reveal its unfathomable riches. Our words will meet for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem, but we ask and wish that this meeting be anticipated in the holy Church which is still on her way towards the fullness of the Kingdom.

Evangelii vox, verbi numquam fallentis, fortiter recinere pergit, nostra tantum separatione infirmata: clamat Christus, difficulter tamen homo eius percipit vocem, quia non valemus concinentes verba prodere. Una simul audiamus invocationem integrum Dei Verbum auscultare cupientium. Occidentis voces Orientis indigent vocibus ut Dei verbum aptiore prorsus ratione suas patefaciat inexploratas ubertates. Nostra verba convenient semper in caelesti Hierusalem, imploramus tamen et volumus ut concordia illa in sancta anticipetur Ecclesia quae adhuc ad Regni plenitudinem iter facit.

May God shorten the time and distance. May Christ, the Orientale Lumen, soon, very soon, grant us to discover that in fact, despite so many centuries of distance, we were very close, because together, perhaps without knowing it, we were walking towards the one Lord, and thus towards one another.

Deus breve reddat tempus et spatium. Cito, immo citissime Christus, Orientale lumen, det ut detegamus nos reapse, tametsi tot saecula disiunctionis abierint, admodum propinquos fuisse, quia una simul, nobis forsitan nescientibus, iter fecimus ad unicum Dominum, ideoque alii ad alios.

May the people of the third millennium be able to enjoy this discovery, finally achieved by a word that is harmonious and thus fully credible, proclaimed by brothers and sisters who love one another and thank one another for the riches which they exchange. Thus shall we offer ourselves to God with the pure hands of reconciliation, and the people of the world will have one more well-founded reason to believe and to hope.

Valeant tertii millennii homines frui eiusmodi patefactione, utpote qui tandem audierint unanimum ideoque plane credibile verbum a fratribus sese diligentibus atque mutuo gratias agentibus pro divitiis ultrocitroque sibi datis conclamatum. Sic nos in conspectu Dei veniemus mundis reconciliationis manibus atque orbis terrarum homines inde validam quandam altioris notae capient rationem ad credendum adque sperandum.