The Orthodox Church Info blog reports today (December 18, 2011) that the Vatican on December 16 lit its traditional St. Peter's Square Christmas tree, which came as a gift from Ukraine this year.
The lighting ceremony was presided over by a delegation of bishops from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC).
Pope Benedict XVI described Ukraine -- whose predominant religion is Greek Orthodox Christianity -- as having been "for centuries at the crossroads of different cultures, a meeting point for the spiritual richness of East and West."
The Great Schism of 1054 split Christianity into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox divisions. Although the Christian split has existed for nearly a thousand years, a harmonious relationship and serious dialogue have prevailed between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in recent years -- and this rapprochement may well result in re-establishing Christian unity in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment