All Christians unite to support the faithful suffering in Middle East, Pope tells Assyrian Patriarch

October 02, 2014

In a private audience on October 2 with the head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Pope Francis said that the meeting “is marked by the suffering we share on account of the wars that beset various regions of the Middle East and in particular for the violence suffered by Christians and members of other religious minorities, especially in Iraq and Syria.”

“When we think of their suffering, it is natural to overcome the distinctions of rite or confession,” the Pope told Catholicos Mar Dinka IV, the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church. He said that all Christians are united in prayer for their suffering brethren in the Middle East.

Turning to ecumenical affairs, the Pontiff said that the Assyrian prelate’s visit is “another step along the path of an increasing closeness and spiritual communion between us, after the bitter misunderstandings of previous centuries.” He said that a joint statement resolving old Christological disputes, signed by Patriarch Mar Dinka and by Pope St. John Paul II, was “a milestone” on the path to unity.

The Pope also spoke of the work of the joint Catholic-Orthodox theological commission, which recently concluded a working session. He said that all Christians should look forward to a time when theological disputes are resolved and full communion is possible. “What unites us is far greater than what divides,” he said.

 

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Further information:

• The Pope to the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East: there is no religious, political or economic justification for the condition of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria (VIS)