Pope in Cyprus: 'Every Christian Is Set Apart to Bear Prophetic Witness to the Risen Lord'

The visits of this pilgrim Pope are not the travels of some old man who just doesn't "get it", as some pundits in the main stream media seek to claim. Rather, they are a living proof that Jesus Christ has been raised - and that He continues His work through His Body, the Church. This Church is engaged in the continuing work of the only One who can set the whole world free, the One whom this Pope proclaims in both word and deed. We offer the Pope's first address upon arriving on Cyprus, a predominantly Orthodox Christian Nation. 

P>PAPHOS, Cyprus (Catholic Online) - Continuing his extraordinary outreach to Orthodox Christians ....and his continual apostolic visits since he assumed the Chair of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI gave his first address of his visit to the Island of Cyprus. Cyprus is a predominatly Orthodox Christian Nation. He visits this important island nation, in his own humble words, as "a Pilgrim".

He spoke the words we present below in an ecumenical (Christian) service in the area of the Church of Agia Kiriaki Chrysopolitiss. First, it is important to reassert that the very word "ecumical" pertains to relationships between Christians.

That is not to not to say that relationships with other religious traditions are not important to Catholic or Orthodox Christians. However, those relationships are rightly referred to as "inter-religious" dialogue. We who are Catholic or Orthodox Christians INSIST on the unicity and Salivific uniqueness of the Claims of Jesus Christ and the Church.

For contemporary Catholic Christians, it was the words of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (now Pope Benedict XVI) which reaffirmed this important and ancient Christian claim. In short, we may respect other religions but only JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! Look here.   

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cyprus the day after Catholic Bishop Luigi Padovese was murdered in Turkey. This Bishop was on his way to meet with the Holy Father on Cyprus. It appears the Bishop was stabbed to death by his Muslim driver. The reasons behind this evil act - and the implications - have become the fodder of numerous speculations throughout the blogosphere. However, they did not prevent the apostolic pilgrimage of this extraordinary Pope. He is, after all, a man on mission.

This should come as no surprise to any news reporter who actually understands the Christian faith or seeks to accurately report on that faith. Christians are not some antiquated group who hold to "old fashioned" beliefs which will somehow be changed by dissidents from within or pressures from without. There is no new heresy. We have dealt with many versions of all of them before. We assert that the future of freedom passes through the fundamental truth claims of the Christian proclamation.

Pope Benedict XVI is keenly aware of the political climate he has entered into in Cyprus. He understands the forces which seek to undermine his healing mission. He told those who greeted him at the Paphos airport that he was there to foster harmony between the painfully divided Greek and Turkish communities.

Pope Benedict said upon his arrival: "Cyprus is thus an appropriate place in which to launch our Church's reflection on the place of the centuries-old Catholic community in the Middle East, our solidarity with all the Christians of the region and our conviction that they have an irreplaceable role to play in peace and reconciliation among its peoples..."

This is the first time that a Pope has officially visited Cyprus. A small minority of Orthodox leaders sought to prevent this vital visit. They were, thank God, unsuccessful. The Church of Jesus Christ is meant to be One. The Church is the only hope to bridge the divisions in Cyprus and the divisions throughout the world. Sin brought and brings division. Jesus Christ is the path to healing and communion.

This visit to Cyprus is not some obscure news event. This visit is a part of a continuing move toward full communion between Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the midst of a Post-Christian/Neo-Pagan age.

As the news sources of the West cover this visit we have a request. Wake up! Christians are not going away! We are used to this. We hold on, pray - and, if necessary - shed our blood for our truth claims. Either what we claim about God is true, or we are the most deluded of men and women. We know we have been given the message which the whole world needs to hear. We have an obligation in charity to share it.

The visits of this "pilgrim" Pope are not the travels of some old man who just doesn't "get it", as some pundits in the main stream media seek to claim. Rather, they are the proof that Jesus Christ has been raised - and that He continues His work through His Body, the Church.

This Church, led by the successor of Peter, is engaged in the continuing work of the only One who can set the whole world free, Jesus Christ. He is not dead, He is alive! And, He offers the entire world the way toward true freedom and liberation in and through Christ's Church which will be One so that the world may believe! (John 17: 17-21)

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

"Grace and peace to you in abundance" (1 Pet 1:2). With great joy I salute you who represent the Christian communities present in Cyprus.

I thank His Beatitude Chrysostomos the Second for his gracious words of welcome, His Eminence Georgios, the Metropolitan of Paphos, our host, and all those who have helped to make this meeting possible. I am also pleased cordially to salute the Christians of other confessions present, including those of the Armenian, Lutheran and Anglican communities.

It is truly an extraordinary grace for us to gather together in prayer in this Church of Agia Kiriaki Chrysopolitissa. We have just heard a reading from the Acts of the Apostles which reminds us that Cyprus was the first stage in the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul (cf. Acts 13:1-4).

Set apart by the Holy Spirit, Paul, accompanied by Barnabas, a native of Cyprus, and Mark, the future evangelist, first came to Salamis, where they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues. Traversing the island, they reached Paphos where, close to this very place, they preached in the presence of the Roman pro-consul Sergius Paulus.

Thus it was from this place that the Gospel message began to spread throughout the Empire, and the Church, grounded in the apostolic preaching, was able to take root throughout the then-known world.

The Church in Cyprus can rightly be proud of her direct links to the preaching of Paul, Barnabas and Mark, and her communion in the apostolic faith, a communion which links her to all those Churches who preserve that same rule of faith. This is the communion, real yet imperfect, which already unites us, and which impels us to overcome our divisions and to strive for the restoration of that full visible unity which is the Lord's will for all his followers.
 
For, in Paul's words, "there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph 4:4-5).

The Church's communion in the apostolic faith is both a gift and a summons to mission. In the passage from Acts which we have heard, we see an image of the Church's unity in prayer, and her openness to the promptings of the Spirit of mission. Like Paul and Barnabas, every Christian, by baptism, is set apart to bear prophetic witness to the Risen Lord and to his Gospel of reconciliation, mercy and peace.

In this context, the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, due to meet in Rome next October, will reflect on the vital role of Christians in the region, encourage them in their witness to the Gospel, and help foster greater dialogue and cooperation between Christians throughout the region. Significantly, the labours of the Synod will be enriched by the presence of fraternal delegates from other Churches and Christian communities in the region, as a sign of our common commitment to the service of God's word and our openness to the power of his reconciling grace.

The unity of all Christ's disciples is a gift to be implored from the Father in the hope that it will strengthen the witness to the Gospel in today's world. The Lord prayed for the holiness and unity of his disciples precisely so that the world might believe (cf. Jn 17:21). Just a hundred years ago, at the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, the acute awareness that divisions between Christians were an obstacle to the spread of the Gospel gave birth to the modern ecumenical movement.

Today we can be grateful to the Lord, who through his Spirit has led us, especially in these last decades, to rediscover the rich apostolic heritage shared by East and West, and in patient and sincere dialogue to find ways of drawing closer to one another, overcoming past controversies, and looking to a better future.

The Church in Cyprus, which serves as a bridge between East and West, has contributed much to this process of reconciliation. The path leading to the goal of full communion will certainly not be without its difficulties, yet the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church of Cyprus are committed to advancing in the way of dialogue and fraternal cooperation.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten our minds and strengthen our resolve, so that together we can bring the message of salvation to the men and women of our time, who thirst for the truth that brings authentic freedom and salvation (cf. Jn 8:32), the truth whose name is Jesus Christ!

Dear sisters and brothers, I cannot conclude without evoking the memory of the saints who have adorned the Church in Cyprus, and in particular Saint Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis. Sanctity is the sign of the fullness of Christian life, a profound inner docility to the Holy Spirit who calls us to constant conversion and renewal as we strive to be ever more conformed to Christ our Saviour.

Conversion and holiness are also the privileged means by which we open our minds and hearts to the Lord's will for the unity of his Church. As we give thanks for this meeting and for the fraternal affection which unites us, let ask Saints Barnabas and Epiphanius, Saints Peter and Paul, and all God's holy ones, to bless our communities, to preserve us in the faith of the Apostles, and to guide our steps along the way of unity, charity and peace."

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