St. Paul yoked Greek thought and Christian faith

Vatican, Mar. 17, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) concentrated on ecumenical relations between the Vatican and the Greek Orthodox Church, as he welcomed a new ambassador from Greece to the Holy See.

The Pope told the new envoy, Miltiadis Hiskakis, that he valued the "valiant efforts" by the late Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens to "mend the breach between Christians in the East and West." The Pope sent his best wishes and assurance of his prayers to the new Greek primate, Archbishop Ieronymos. Pointing out that he has declared a special year dedicated to St. Paul, the Holy Father said that the observance would be "a particular auspicious occasion to intensify our ecumenical endeavors."

St. Paul, the Pontiff continued, preached "the wisdom of the Cross of Christ among the people of Greece, who were formed by the highly sophisticated Hellenic culture." The interplay between Christian faith and Greek thought has been enormously fruitful, he said, and the words of St. Paul "still resound in the hearts of men and women today."

A renewed emphasis on the work of St. Paul, the Pope said, could "become a catalyst that will spark reflection upon the history of Europe and stir its inhabitants to rediscover the inestimable treasure of values they have inherited from the integral wisdom of Hellenistic culture and the Gospel."

Pope Benedict told the ambassador that he was grateful "for the assurance of your government's resolve to address administrative issues concerning the Catholic Church in your nation." While acknowledging that the Catholic population is small, he said that the faithful look forward to a fair resolution of their concerns.

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