When Pope Leo XIV attended the Divine Liturgy, his presence beside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew reaffirmed Rome’s commitment to Christian unity at a moment when secular governments in East and West are engaged in closed-door political conflict.
During his homily, Patriarch Bartholomew emphasised the spiritual unity of the two Churches while acknowledging the formidable theological barriers that continue to obstruct communion between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.
“As successors of the two holy Apostles, the founders of our respective Churches,” he said, referring to Peter and Andrew, “we feel bound by ties of spiritual brotherhood.”
