Churches Not Quit of "One Voice' as Francis Addresses Catholic-Orthodox Meeting in Rome

Pope and Patriarch say same thing but they need to say it together, Metropolitan Hilarion says



27 January 2017 | by James Roberts

Addressing Catholic and Orthodox leaders in Rome today, Pope Francis acknowledged that many of them belong to churches that witness on a daily basis the spread of violence and “brutality perpetrated by fundamentalist extremism”.

Wherever there is violence and conflict, Christians are called to work patiently to restore concord and hope, he told the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The commission was holding its 14th meeting since its inception in 2003.

Francis was speaking shortly after Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, in an interview with France’s Catholic weekly Famille Chretienne, urged Catholic and Orthodox leaders to “speak with one voice”. “We act separately on many occasions. The Pope makes a statement and the Patriarch (Kirrill) says the same, but they each do it alone. I firmly believe their message would be more powerful if they both spoke with a single voice”, Metropolitan Hilarion said.

However Francis’ analysis of the origins of the spread of violence differs in important respects from the Orthodox analysis. Francis today pointed to social injustice as a major factor. “Situations of such tragic suffering more easily take root in the context of great poverty, injustice and social exclusion,” he claimed, “due to instability created by partisan interests, often from elsewhere”.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/6661/0/churches-not-quite-of-one-voice-as-francis-addresses-catholic-orthodox-meeting-in-rome