Homily By His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during the Concelebration of the Divine Liturgy with His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia in the Patriarchal Church of St. George

Your Beatitude, dearly beloved Brother and concelebrant in the Lord, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia, with your honorable entourage,

It is with great joy, deep love and much honor that we welcome you today to the court of that Church, from which the unwaning light of the holy and blameless Orthodox faith was conveyed to the noble and blessed Russian people, whom we behold at this moment in the precious person of Your Beatitude. We greet and embrace you wholeheartedly, praying that the Lord may bless your people with His grace, establishing them in “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and increasing the seed of the Gospel that they received from here.

This first and formal visit of Your Beatitude in your capacity as Patriarch to the See of the Ecumenical Throne is replete with sacred symbolism and ecclesiological significance. For it demonstrates clearly the indissoluble bond between our two Churches as well as the prevailing sacred and inviolable order of unity within our holy Orthodox Church. Therefore, the Ecumenical Patriarchate justifiably records your visit here in the pages of history, being an event of special importance, and offers glory to the Founder of the Church for granting us this gift and blessing.

The common celebration of the Divine Eucharist today, Your Beatitude, constitutes the supreme expression of our unity. For, as we know, and as the Church Fathers teach from the Hieromartyr Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, to St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessalonika, and Nicholas Cabasilas, the Church is realized and revealed as Body of Christ particularly and primarily in the Divine Eucharist. As St. Nicholas Cabasilas wonderfully observes, between the Church and the Divine Eucharist, there is not an “analogy of likeness” but an “identity of reality.” Thus, it follows that “if one could see the Church of Christ … then one would see nothing else but the Body of the Lord.” Therefore, having just celebrated together the Divine Liturgy, we manifested in time and place the very Church of Christ; by participating in the one Bread and the same Cup, we have been united in the communion of the one Spirit.

This unity, which is achieved in the common Cup, cannot be taken from us by anyone. “Neither sorrow nor sadness nor persecution nor hunger nor nakedness nor danger nor the sword,” to quote the Apostle (Rom. 8.35), nor again any other power or scheme by the Enemy, count as nothing before the unity that we share in the Body of Christ. Certain shadows and small clouds may from time to time conceal the relationships among our sister Churches; but these only possess temporary character. With the love of Christ, “they pass quickly,” according to the words of our saintly predecessor John Chrysostom. After all, the obligation remains with us, who are entrusted with the responsibility and ministry of leadership in our Churches; and we must discover the solutions to whatever problems may arise, doing so in a spirit of peace and love with the explicit purpose of securing the unity of our holy Orthodox Church.

Still fresh in our memory as an example of this strong will among our Churches, for the sake of securing at any cost the unity of our holy Orthodox Church, is the wonderful unanimity realized during the recent 4th Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, which took place at our Patriarchal Center on Chambésy-Geneva, where important decisions were taken to resolve the question of the Orthodox Diaspora, thereby removing one of the more serious hurdles in the journey of our Orthodox Church for the realization of the Holy and Great Council, which was decided with Pan-Orthodox consent. We would like to take this opportunity, at this sacred moment, to express our satisfaction and gratitude for the constructive cooperation manifested during the same Conference by the Delegation of your Church, which together with the other Delegations of the sister Orthodox Churches contributed to the success of the Conference itself. Let us hope that a similar spirit of splendid cooperation will also mark the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission that will convene next December, in order that we may prepare the remaining matters of the Holy and Great Council, which the world – both within and outside of Orthodoxy, awaits with eagerness.

Indeed, Your Beatitude and Holy Brother, everyone has their eyes focused upon us, expecting us to lead them by word, but especially by our example, in the way of reconciliation and love that is so imperative today. This is why it is crucial that we demonstrate an unswerving readiness above all to promote in every way our Pan-Orthodox unity. We already share the same faith, articulated and proclaimed by the Holy Synods. We have the same worship, as this was formulated in this City and then transplanted to the other Orthodox Churches. We have the same canonical order, unalterably defined by the order and regulations of the holy Ecumenical Councils. Our unity is based on these foundations. The structure of our Church into Patriarchates and Autocephalous Churches in no way implies that we constitute Churches and not a Church. Of course, the Orthodox Church does not have at its disposal a primacy of authority; however, it also does not lack a coordinating body, which does not impose but rather expresses the unanimity of our local Churches. This ministry is realized humbly – out of a long and sacred tradition – by this martyric Throne in absolute faithfulness to the prescriptions of Orthodox ecclesiology.

Nevertheless, the unity of our holy Orthodox Church is not an end in itself. In accordance with the words of the Lord a little before His Passion, the goal of the unity of His disciples according to the model of the Holy Trinity is “that the world may believe that You sent me” (John 17.21). As “catholic,” the Church extends by conveying God’s love to all people and to the material creation itself. We exist as Church not for ourselves but for humanity and creation. We offer the Divine Eucharist “for the oikoumene” and for all creation. Consequently, we cannot remain indifferent in a spirit of self-sufficiency and self-love for those who are outside the walls of the Orthodox Church, satisfied and proud that we “have found the truth.”

For this reason, dearly beloved Brother in the Lord, we rejoice at the fact that the Most Holy Church of Russia, despite certain reservations or objections from some of its circles, fully participates in the theological dialogues that are approved on a Pan-Orthodox level with non-Orthodox Christians, contributing for a long time now to the promotion of Christian unity. There are of course difficulties that we encounter; more than often, there are disappointments. Your Beatitude has great experience in this area, knowing well how difficult and rough this journey is. Yet, it is a journey that we are obliged to undertake according to the commandment of the Lord, even through spiritual toil and turmoil, always remaining faithful to the truth we have received “until all of us reach the unity of faith.” (Eph. 4.13)

Beyond this, the burning and urgent problems of contemporary humankind rise before us, problems accentuated by our tendency toward self-love and hedonism, which are unfortunately presented, cultivated and promoted by the modern world. These problems increase daily in contemporary societies; indeed, as a result of the existing trends of so-called globalization, they tend to assume ecumenical character. The worship of mammon, which led to the present financial crisis; the unjust distribution of wealth, which widens the gap and heightens the contrasts among social groups; wars and conflicts, which are followed by the oppression of the weak by the powerful, leading numerous people to the adventure of searching for a better destiny, far from their homeland; the rise of crime and every form of moral deviation and decline; all these have profound spiritual roots and oblige the Church of Christ to articulate a word and contribute, by means of all spiritual resources available, to cultivate a moral sensitivity within contemporary society. Your Beatitude has shown particular sensitivity in these issues, proving your intense interest and concern.

However, our Church, too, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, demonstrates similar sensitivity in confronting such problems of the contemporary world, such as the ecological crisis that plagues the planet and humankind in an effort to reveal the deeper, spiritual and moral causes of this crisis in order to raise awareness among people – and especially the faithful – about the seriousness of the crisis and the need to assume measures to resolve it. Moreover, conscious of the seriousness of these problems and aware of the Church’s obligation before them, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has already assumed the initiative to organize an Inter-Orthodox Bioethics Committee, in which the Most Holy Church of Russia kindly participates through its appointed delegation.

Your Beatitude and beloved Brother,

As all of us know, the Orthodox Church is fundamentally traditional. It respects and preserves the past as an invaluable deposit, inherited from all preceding generations. Examples of this include the unbroken succession of saints, great hierarchs, fathers and mothers, teachers and missionaries, apostles and prophets, martyrs and ascetics, whose head and leader is our Lord Jesus Christ, who remains “the same yesterday and today, and to the ages.” (Heb. 13.8) The Saints of the Church constitute our common treasure, irrespective of where they lived. These Saints were also granted to our Church by the saint-bearing land of Russia, which continues to offer such Saints to this day. This cloud of witnesses covers and protects all of us even at this historical concelebration, calling us to imitate their God-pleasing life in order that we may recall that we belong to the One, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, as we confess in the Symbol of our faith.

However, this commitment to Tradition by no means constitutes a brake in our life and witness within the contemporary world. The Orthodox Church pays close attention to the quests, needs and concerns of modern man. It is always present and prepared to stand by human suffering, just as the Good Samaritan did in the parable. So let us join hands as two Churches, together with the other Orthodox Churches, in order “with one mouth and one heart,” as one united Church of Christ, to celebrate the liturgy after the Liturgy, bearing the Bread of life to those hungry and thirsty for righteousness and love. Our unity transcends the narrow limits of any nationalism or racism; may it also offer to those near and afar a sense of hope, which the world cannot provide – hope for a world of peace and love. May the Divine Liturgy that we have just celebrated be continued as our common journey in the world toward the Kingdom of God.

With this prayer, then, we embrace you, dearly beloved Brother, expressing our gratitude for your blessed visit here and entreating our Lord God to protect, preserve and strengthen you in your supreme ministry for the benefit of His entire holy Church. Amen.

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