Orth. Patriarch Bartholomew to Attend Papal Mass; Seen as a Prelude to Unity of Cath.,Orth. Churches

For the first time since the Great Schism between Western and Eastern Christianity in the year 1054, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople will attend a papal inauguration Mass, the National Catholic Reporter website reports today (March 16, 2013).

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will attend Pope Francis' formal inauguration in St. Peter's Square on March 19, along with representatives of Argentina's Orthodox Church and Italy's Orthodox Church.

Bartholomew's attending of the inauguration might be seen as a sign of hope for reunification between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches, although it has been almost 1,000 years since the five episcopal sees of the Roman Empire -- Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem -- were completely undivided.

Those hoping that this renewed Catholic-Orthodox esprit de corps will serve as a prelude to Christian reunification, can take heart in Pope Francis' first words to St. Peter's Square upon his election this week, where he did not once refer to himself as pope, but rather simply as Rome's bishop.