A “heart-felt” thank-you for the “apostolic work” carried out over these years. It was expressed by card. Walter Kasper, president of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, in a birthday message sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, who will turn 70 on February 29th.

“I remember with gratitude – writes card. Kasper in his message – the many fraternal meetings that we have had over the last ten years at the Fanar and here in Rome, and I hope the Lord will grant me the joy of meeting you again soon. The friendship, the mutual trust and the honesty that have always been typical of our conversations are for me a great gift and a sign of progress in the relations between our Churches. I hope Your Holiness may continue, with indefatigable commitment, to contribute to a deeper and deeper knowledge and fruitful cooperation between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, so as to give the world common evidence of our faith in Our Only Lord Jesus Christ”. Born on the isle of Imbro, in Turkey, on February 29th 1940, with the name Dimitrios Archontonis, on October 22nd 1991, after the death of Patriarch Demetrius, he was appointed by the Holy Synod archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, positions that he actually took on November 2nd.

© SIR - 23 february 2010