CWN - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor in Eastern Orthodoxy, arrived in Stuttgart on May 29 and was welcomed by Lutheran and Catholic prelates.

At a reception at the Old Castle, Bishop Gerhard Feige, head of the Catholic bishops’ ecumenical commission, said that the Ecumenical Patriarch’s presence in Germany manifested his desire to take part in the 500th anniversary commemoration of the Protestant Reformation.

Bishop Feige then spoke about Lutheran-Catholic ecumenical initiatives before praising remarks by the Ecumenical Patriarch about dialogue. “We have passed through a remarkable learning history from initial uncertainty and skepticism to a real coexistence,” said the bishop of Magdeburg.

References:

• Bischof Feige spricht beim Empfang der evangelischen Kirche für Patriarch Bartholomaios (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz)