Pope Francis: young people can break chains that separate Catholics and Orthodox

Pope Francis placed his hope in young people that Catholics and Orthodox will be “united in diversity” and “break the chains” of resentment, misunderstanding and prejudice that have kept them prisoners for centuries.

On the morning of this Thursday, May 16, Pope Francis received in audience at the Vatican the Director General of the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan Agathanghelos, and to the Delegation of the Theological College of Athens.

It should be noted that the Apostoliki Diakoniafounded in 1936, belongs to the Orthodox Church of Greece and is defined as an “official ecclesiastical entity dependent on the Holy Synod” of the Church of the Greek country.

At the beginning of his speech given from the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude for the collaboration between this entity and the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

He also addressed a particular greeting to the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, His Beatitude Leronymos, who was present at the audience and whom the Pontiff defined as “a man of deep faith and wise shepherd.”

Pope Francis highlighted that during these 20 years, “even overcoming difficult periods, such as the economic crisis that hit Greece and the pandemic, the Apostoliki Diakonia and the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration have worked together to promote projects of common interest on the cultural and educational level.”

Later, he especially highlighted the need to provide cultural, theological and ecumenical training to new generations.

According to the Holy Father, “it is precisely the young, sustained by the hope that is founded on faith, who can break the chains of resentment, misunderstanding and prejudice, which for centuries have kept Catholics and Orthodox prisoners, preventing them from “Recognize ourselves as brothers united in diversity, capable of witnessing the love of Christ, especially in this divided and conflictive world.”

Likewise, Pope Francis highlighted that next summer a group of Catholic students will be welcomed at the Athens Faculty of Theology “who will begin their knowledge of modern Greek and the Orthodox Church.”

“As we walk together, work together and pray together, we prepare to receive from God the gift of unity which, as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, will be communion and harmony in legitimate diversity,” the Holy Father concluded.