Monday, December 04, 2006

Ecumenical fruits?

From CWN:

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has disclosed that he made an important, concrete proposal for Orthodox-Catholic cooperation during his November 30 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news).
...
The AsiaNews service, citing sources in the Constantinople patriarchate, reports that the Patriarch suggested that he and the Pontiff should personally take part in the next meeting of a joint Orthodox-Catholic theological commission, to take place next year in Ravenna, Italy. The AsiaNews report suggested that Pope Benedict is inclined to accept the suggestion.

Well now wouldn't that just be interesting? Could it be possible for us to hope for a reunion of the Churches of the East and West sometime in our lifetimes? It would, indeed, be just like God to choose someone like Benedict, someone known as a "hardliner" to be the one to bridge the divide. There are, certainly, still many miles to go before such a thing could happen, but the mere thought of it is exquisitely exciting.