The following comes from a press release issued on March 31 by the San Francico archdiocese.
His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco and His Excellency Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco will join together in prayer for the service of Salutations to the Holy Cross of our Lord on Tuesday, April 8 in Belmont, California. This year’s gathering commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the historic meeting between Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI and is dedicated to the upcoming meeting between His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and His Holiness Pope Francis in May 2014.
This local tradition began in 2007 after the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont received a relic of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The faithful of the Holy Cross Church, along with the neighboring parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church have gathered in prayer annually each year to venerate this blessed relic, calling to mind the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our salvation.
All faithful are invited to participate in this service which will take place on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, 900 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont, California. A reception and discussion will be held immediately following the Salutations service.
For more information, please contact Holy Cross Church at 650-591-4447. For those faithful not able to be in attendance or for those living outside the immediate area, you may also watch the service online at https://www.goholycross.org/ at 7:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, April 8, 2014.
Of all the non-Catholic Christian religions, we have the most in common with the Orthodox Churches. Under Pope Benedict XVI, our relations between them were greatly improving. I believe they have cooled a bit. We should be paying much closer attention to them, especially in regards to liturgical matters, as seldom are there looney liturgies in the Orthodox churches.
“Cooled?” Why do you say that? Pope Francis has extremely good relations with the Eastern Catholic churches. Does this bother the Orthodox? I would certainly hope that.
Praise the Lord for this beautiful coming together. I hope to attend, but if not will surely watch it online.
Yes, the Orthodox are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ. They do have Apostolic Succession and valid Sacraments. I hope the rift is healed some day. I will put this mutual service on my calendar.
Recently, my Greek Orthodox family member was complaining about goings on in his church. After listening to the rant for a while, I told him that even after a thousand years, the Catholic Church would gladly welcome him back. The table of Greeks was rendered speechless by my audacity. No, the Greek Orthodox are not yet ready for full communion and pride is most likely the reason at this point.
There may be some pride, but it’s mostly a question of beliefs. And pride is not just one one side of the division, either.
Have you ever been exposed to the fractures between the different Orthodox state churches? It’s very sad. I think their fractured state is the biggest thing that keeps them from reuniting with the Catholic Church.
I suspect one Orthodox state church will come Home at a time.