Affirms Value of Eastern Tradition and Union With Holy See
VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI received in audience the leader of the Syro-Malankars, and encouraged him to maintain both the union with the Apostolic See and the specifically Eastern features of that tradition.
This morning in the Vatican, the Pope received Major Archbishop Issac Cleemis Thottunkal, major archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, India.
The archbishop was elected to his current office by the Synod of the Syro-Malankar Church on Feb. 8.
The Holy Father told him: "Now the universal Church, together with all those who belong to your ecclesial tradition, is counting upon Your Beatitude to ensure that the Malankar community can proceed along a twofold path.
"On the one hand, through faithfulness to the Apostolic See you will always participate fully in the universal breath of the one Church of Christ; on the other hand your fidelity to the specifically Eastern features of your tradition will enable the whole Church to benefit from what in his manifold wisdom the Spirit is saying to the Churches.'"
The Pontiff said: "Now is a time of new evangelization, a time of constantly renewed and convinced dialogue with all our brothers and sisters who share our Christian faith, a time of respectful and fruitful encounter between religions and cultures for the good of all, and especially the poorest of the poor.
"Our commitment to evangelization needs to be constantly renewed, as we strive to build peace, in justice and solidarity, for the whole human family."
Code: ZE07052803
Date: 2007-05-28