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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.

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The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation joyfully anticipates the coming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and his meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on November 29 and 30, 2006. This meeting will coincide with the celebration of the feast of Saint Andrew, the First-Called Apostle, the Patriarchate’s Patron Saint. It will take place in Istanbul, ancient Constantinople, a historic crossroads of peoples, cultures and religions.

The meeting of Pope Benedict and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will continue a tradition begun in 1964 when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras met in Jerusalem, and later in Rome and Istanbul. Since that time, meetings of Popes and Ecumenical Patriarchs have become more regular but no less significant.

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We, the humble Alexy II, by God’s mercy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, jointly with the Eminent Members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, having gathered at a meeting of the Holy Synod (date) in the God-preserved city of Moscow; and the humble Laurus, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, jointly with the Eminent Bishops, members of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, having gathered (time, place);

Being guided by the effort towards reestablishing blessed peace, Divinely-decreed love, and brotherly unity in the common work in the harvest-fields of God within the Fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church and her faithful in the Fatherland and abroad, taking into consideration the ecclesiastical life of the Russian diaspora outside the canonical borders of the Moscow Patriarchate, as dictated by history;

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Concluding the eighth joint meeting of the Commissions and summarizing its work, it is worth noting the path traveled, beginning with the meeting between His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, in Moscow in May 2004. It was then that the Commissions were charged with preparing the documents needed to reestablish canonical communion between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church Abroad.

The path towards dialog was opened by fundamental changes in the life of the Orthodox Church in Russia: ruined churches and monasteries are being rebuilt, parish life and spiritual education are returning to normal, more and more people are coming to the Orthodox faith. Orthodox Christians in Russia and abroad are children of one Mother Church, heirs of a great spiritual tradition, cognizant of the artificiality of continuing division. Meetings among clergymen and laypersons, joint conferences, contact on the diocesan and parish level have helped destroy old stereotypes and prejudices, steering mutual relations onto a constructive track and preparing the groundwork for dialog on the hierarchical level.

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