A-13 they are to be found in the testimony of John, My disciple.7 I will then unite My Church and encircle you with My arms into one fold for today; as it is you are all scattered, developing too many communities, split sections. My Body you have torn apart and this CANNOT BE. I will unite you all. (16.05.1988) Other messages speak of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ or the Vicar of the Church. Here is one example: Pray for the whole Church. Be the incense of My Church and by this I mean that you pray for all those who are proclaiming My Word, from the Vicar who is representing Me to the apostles and prophets of your days, from the sacerdotal souls and religious souls to the laymen, so that they may be ready to understand that all of you whom I mentioned are part of One Body, My Body. (10.01.1990) (More references in 01.06.1989, 02.03.1990, 10.10.1990, 18.03.1991, 20.04.1993, 20.12.1993, 15.04.1996, 22.10.1996, 20.12.1996.) The writings contain no references to how the role of Peter will relate to the roles of the various patriarchal sees, and so I cannot speak about this. But I am aware that the Pope himself in the Encyclical “Ut unum sint” does open up for a discussion of this sort: It is nonetheless significant and encouraging that the question of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome has now become a subject of study that is already under way or will be in the near future. It is likewise significant and encouraging that this question appears as an essential theme not only in the theological dialogues in which the Catholic Church is engaging with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, but also more generally in the ecumenical movement as a whole. Recently the delegates to the Fifth World Assembly of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches, held in Santiago de Compostela, recommended that the Commission “begin a new study of the question of a universal ministry of Christian unity”. After centuries of bitter controversies, the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities are more and more taking a fresh look at this ministry of unity. 8 The same encyclical confirms the necessity of East and West reuniting, allowing differences between the two communions while being in full communion: In view of all this, the Catholic Church desires nothing less than full communion between East and West. She finds inspiration for this in the experience of the first millennium. In that period, indeed, “the development of different experiences of ecclesial life did not prevent Christians, through mutual relations, from continuing to feel certain that they were at home in any Church, because praise of the one Father, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, rose from them all, in a marvellous variety of languages and melodies; all were gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist, the heart and model for the community regarding not only spirituality and the moral life, but also the Church’s very structure, in the variety of ministries and services under the leadership of the Bishop, successor of the Apostles. The first Councils are an eloquent witness to this enduring unity in diversity.”9 Although the writings do not speak of structural issues regarding East and West, there are many references to the importance of the Eastern Church. Thereby, the un-compromised underlining of the 7 John 21:15-17. 8 Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint of the Holy Father John Paul II on Commitment to Ecumenism, 89. 9 Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint of the Holy Father John Paul II on Commitment to Ecumenism 61, ref. to Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen (2 May 1995), 24: L’Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 18: loc. Cit., 4.
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