16 March 2013

Pope Francis I

First on a practical note: last week my Twitter account was hacked. My apologies for any phishing messages you received. I changed my password, hope that solves the problem. Please let me know if you continue to get spammed from my account. Last but not least, thanks again to all who alerted me.

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I was not surprised at the difference in the responses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Moscow to the election of Pope Francis I. If you haven't yet seen the news,  Bartholomew will attend the Mass of installation (I need to look up the Latin title; "installation" doesn't sound quite right), along with Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) and if I remember right, the archbishops (Ecumenical Patriarchate) of Argentina and Italy.

In terms of the dialogue between Rome and Constantinople, the Patriarch's attendance is a huge sign, as is the attendance of Metropolitan John. Some commentators are saying that it's the first time since the Great Schism that a Patriarch of Constantinople has attended a new Pope's inaugural Mass. I'm not sure ... after the lifting of the mutual anathemas did the Patriarch at the time attend those of John Paul I, John Paul II, or Benedict XVI?

When I heard the announcement that the new Pope had taken the name Francis, I immediately thought of Seraphim of Sarov. Both saints are commonly seen as representatives of a "spirituality of light." How might Orthodox and Catholics here in Finland live in new ways together - in that Light?

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