Your gift counts double until 5/31: $27,370 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Papal trip to Lebanon strengthened ties with Orthodox, cardinal reports

CWN - September 21, 2012

The visit to Lebanon by Pope Benedict XVI marked a significant step forward for relations with the Orthodox churches, according to the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

Cardinal Kurt Koch told L’Osservatore Romano that although public attention focused on relations with Muslims during the papal voyage, because of the current religious tensions in the Middle East, the Pope’s meetings with Orthodox leaders were productive and the Vatican has receive “extremely positive comments” on the trip.

The trip also demonstrated the unity within the Catholic Church, despite the differences among the Eastern Catholics of different rites in Lebanon, Cardinal Koch reported. “One could also state that the relations between the Catholic Church and all the Eastern Orthodox churches are getting better,” he added.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($27,370 to go):
$80,000.00 $52,629.70
34% 66%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Mystery of the Spirit 12 hours ago
Against a Facile Assurance of Salvation, the Need for Mystery 13 hours ago
Making Sense of Society: The Ebook 18 hours ago
An exorcism? No, a blessing. You'd think reporters would know the difference. 21 hours ago
Learning from the sick, and from the death of a child May 17

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8