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Catholic World News News Feature

John Paul II reflects on purpose of papacy June 30, 2004

At his weekly public audience on June 30, Pope John Paul II reflected on the "particular service" of the Bishop of Rome within the universal Church. His reflections touched on both his meeting with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, and the ceremony in which he imposed the pallium on 44 new Catholic archbishops.

The palllium, the Pope said, "expresses the fundamental principle of communion that shapes every aspect of ecclesial life." The Church, he explained, is both universal and united. The special vestment given to metropolitan archbishops throughout the world shows their full communion with the See of Peter, thus acting as a visible sign of Church unity.

The annual ceremony in which archbishops receive the pallium, the Pope continued, is a powerful reminder of both "the universality of the Church," and the fealty that all Catholic bishops show toward the Bishop of Rome.

The Pope urged the faithful to pray for the 44 archbishops who had received the pallium at the previous day's ceremony, on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. He also asked for prayers for the 8 other new archbishops who were unable to attend the ceremony, and received (or will receive) the pallium from representatives of the Pope.

Pope John Paul also reminded his audience that he had met the previous day with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, in a meeting arranged to recall the "historical embrace" between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in 1964, and the ecumenical progress that has followed. The Holy Father did not comment directly on the significance of the papacy from the perspective of the Orthodox churches-- an issue that has constituted a roadblock in ecumenical dialogue.

There were 13,500 people in St. Peter's Square for the Wednesday audience. This was the Pontiff's last regular weekly audience at the Vatican for this summer. He will leave next week for a two-week vacation in the Italian Alps, then adjourn to his summer residence at Castel Gandalfo, where he will conduct his public audiences for the remainder of the summer.