Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Expects Full Communion With Rome

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has expressed his hope that Catholics and Orthodox Christians might restore full communion, a bond broken for nearly a millennium. "We await, by the grace and help from on high, the restoration of full communion with the Church of Rome within the single Body of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church," he stated.

On September 4, the Patriarch spoke in Budapest  at the conclusion of the 27th International Congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, which was dedicated to the theme: "The Bishop of Rome: Future Horizons Based on Ancient Traditions for Catholics and Orthodox." His address was published the following day by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. According to its website: "The Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches was established according to Austrian Law on September 28, 1969. The organizational center of the Society is the Department for Legal Philosophy (formerly the Institute for Canon Law) of the Viennese Faculty of Law. The purpose of the Society is the promotion of better international and inter-confessional scholarly collaboration among specialists of the Law of the Eastern Churches and of the Civil Law on Churches insofar as it concerns the Eastern Churches."

Bartholomew linked his aspiration to the ancient Pentarchy, formed during the first millennium by the sees of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. He explained that the communion and concelebration among their patriarchs constituted "the most visible sign of the unity of the universal Church."

The Patriarch acknowledged the profound impact of the rupture between Rome and Constantinople, describing it as a separation that "tore the seamless garment of the Lord." He said the four ancient Eastern patriarchates—Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem—now bear a particular pastoral responsibility to preserve the continuity of the apostolic faith and to bear witness to orthodoxy.

Bartholomew insisted that this pain over the separation "is inseparable from hope," and said a restoration of communion with Rome, "the Pentarchy might once again be complete" and that what he termed the "five-stringed lyre" of the universal Church might once again resound "in the fullness of its ancient harmony."

A primacy "within, and never above" the Churches

A central part of the patriarch's address was dedicated to the question of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, one of the key issues in the theological dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Bartholomew recalled a well-known formulation by Joseph Ratzinger, dating from before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, who said that Rome could not demand more from the East regarding primacy than what had been "formulated and lived out during the first millennium." Bartholomew also recalled the words Patriarch Athenagoras used to welcome Pope Paul VI to the Phanar district in Constantinople in 1967, addressing the Pontiff as "successor of Peter, first in honor among us, the one who presides in love."

Bartholomew maintained that this expression encapsulates the Orthodox understanding of Roman primacy as "a primacy of loving service, exercised within—and never above—the communion of sister Churches." He added that Athenagoras linked this interpretation to the Pentarchy, in which the Pope of Rome was recognized as *primus inter pares*—"first among equals"—in his capacity as "Patriarch of the West."

The Patriarch made clear the gap that remains between the two ecclesiological perspectives. Regarding the title "Patriarch of the West," he argued that while it corresponds to specific patriarchal rights, it does not—from an Orthodox standpoint—represent the exercise of "universal and immediate" jurisdiction.

The restoration of the title "Patriarch of the West"

Bartholomew also addressed Benedict XVI’s 2006 decision to remove the title "Patriarch of the West" from the *Annuario Pontificio* (Pontifical Yearbook). He noted that the Ecumenical Patriarchate had received that decision "with great regret," believing that the title—unlike others attributed to the Pope—originated in and was accepted by the undivided Church of the first millennium and was tied to the ecclesiology of the Pentarchy.

The Patriarch revealed that he had subsequently raised the matter personally with Francis, who, according to him, acknowledged these concerns and assured him of his intention to restore the title "at the right and opportune moment." The title reappeared in the 2024 *Pontifical Yearbook*. Bartholomew described the decision as "a small step, but far from insignificant," and stated that Constantinople views it as a "positive and hopeful" sign for the continuation of theological dialogue with Rome.

A new center for dialogue with Catholics

The address coincided with the inauguration in Budapest of the new "Fanarion" Center for Orthodox-Christian Dialogue, an initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate designed as a permanent meeting place for Orthodox believers, other Christians, and representatives of various religions.

Bartholomew says he hopes that the center would become a "workshop for legal ecumenism" and place the work of canon lawyers and theologians at the service of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

The ultimate goal, the Patriarch affirmed, is to serve "the sacred cause of restoring full communion between our Churches."