Ex Pluribus Unum

I was watching the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey being televised by EWTN. I was blessed to witness the Divine Liturgy held at the Cathedral of St. George, an Orthodox Church, presided by no less than the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Pope Benedict was also there seated and in prayer along with the Orthodox clergy and laity. At the end of the liturgy, both leaders of these two "sister churches" delivered messages for each other. It was clear from both sides: there is that blazing desire for a full communion between the Church in Rome and the Church in Constantinople. The centuries-old schism between the East and West is almost about to be resolved. It started more than 20 years ago when both their predecessors lifted the "ex-communication orders" both Churches have imposed on one another. Since then, dialogues have started trying to iron out both the "secular" and "doctrinal" differences.

I loved it when Pope Benedict XVI mentioned about St. Peter and St. Andrew, biological brothers and apostles of Christ. St. Peter became a missionary and bishop of Rome. His brother Andrew spread the faith in the Greek-speaking lands of the East, including Turkey. Peter's successors are now addressed as Popes and Andrew's successors are now called as Patriarchs. I love thinking and feeling that our Orthodox brethren are in a sense not really that separated from us. Like Peter and Andrew, the Catholic Church in Rome and in Constantinople are brothers in faith. I am hopeful that the old schism will be resolved, not without bumps along the way, and should that happens, it shall truly be an authentic spring time in the Church of Christ.

It is sad to note though that the visit of the Pope has been met by a few protesters from our Muslim brothers. The protest was an angry response to a statement made by the Pope earlier about "linking" violence with Islam. I have read that entire statement which was actually so heavily filled with academics and it wasn't the main essence of the statement. The Pope was simply quoting an old text made by an ancient Christian emperor while reacting on the growing number of Islam believers who were also threatening to occupy lands in Europe and Asia Minor. The entire theme of the Pope's statement was about religion being made an excuse by some "extremists" to committ violence. The Pope and the Church believes that no violence is justified, not even in the name of God or any religion, may it be Islam or Christianity or Judaism.

It is unfortunate however that some "extremist" Islam clerics made a spin out of this statement and made some of their followers to believe that the Pope was anti-Islam. The Pope is anti-extremism, and I share the same opinion and belief with the Pope. I have no bias against Islam or any faith but it disgusts me to see on TV or read on the news of how extremists Muslims would kill in the name of Allah. I am no reader of the Koran but I am sure that Allah would never consent to violence. Allah is Love and Allah is Justice grounded on Love. Allahu Akbar!

It is therefore also my hope that our Muslim brothers become more tolerant of their "non-Muslim" brothers. I hope that our Muslim-believing states give the same religious freedom to Christians in their countries they so eagerly demand from other Christian-dominated states. I hope also that our Muslim brothers remember that in the past, it wasn't the "Christians" (Crusaders) alone who have "hurt" the Muslims. There were also points in our ancient history that the Muslims too were guilty of trespasses against the Christians and throughout these bloody episodes of our common history, treasures of Christianity were lost to the Muslim occupiers, including the Hagia Sophia in Turkey. The point really is, both are guilty and both must be repentant.

I do hope that Christ's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane would become a reality, "Father, I pray that they may be one as we are one."