Romania: Orthodox Patriarch opens door to papal visit.Bucharest--The Romanian Orthodox Patriarch patriarch, in the Bible patriarch (pā`trēärk), in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g. said he would welcome a visit by Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła to the former Communist country, and he has discussed the possibility of such a visit with several cardinals at an international ecumenical meeting Sept. 1st. "The Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (Biserica Ortodoxă Română in Romanian) is a autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. A majority of Romanians (18,817,975, or 86. wants this visit as it is beneficial," Patriarch Teoctist told state news agency Rompress after the 12th International Meeting of Peoples and Religion. "It must be productive because the Romanian Orthodox Church is linked to the people." He added that a date for the visit was not yet being discussed. While the Holy Father was officially invited to visit last July by the Romanian government, the Orthodox Church was initially cool to the idea. The country's minority Eastern-rite Catholics have clashed with the majority Orthodox over the return of churches and property seized seized (seised) n. 1) having ownership, commonly used in wills as "I give all the property of which I die seized as follows:...." 2) having taken possession of evidence for use in a criminal prosecution. 3) having taken property or a person by force. (See: seisin, seizure) by the former Communist government and handed over to the Orthodox. Leaders of the Orthodox Church had previously said that no visit should take place while the property dispute remained unsettled. (CWN CWN Catholic World News CWN Clean Water Network CWN Commonwealth Women’s Network (UK) CWN Children's Workforce Network CWN Call When Needed (helicopter services) , Sept 1, 1998) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion