The Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome awarded the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew an honorary doctorate of philosophy.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, who is in Rome on an official visit, participated yesterday along with other religious leaders in prayer for world peace.
At the same time, in other parts of Rome, Jews were praying in the synagogue of the city and Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu and Muslim leaders also were praying for peace.
In addition, the Ecumenical Patriarch gave an interview on the official site of the Vatican vaticannews.va, where among other things noted that “We completely agree with Pope Francis’ invitation to abandon indifference or even the cynicism that governs our ecological, political, economic and social life in general, including our self-centered form of unity, and to dream of our world as a united human family.”
He added also, “Economic development has not reduced the gap between the rich and the poor. Rather, it has prioritized profit, to the detriment of the protection of the weak, and contributes to the exacerbation of environmental problems. And politics has become the servant of the economy. Human rights and international law are elaborated and serve purposes alien to justice, freedom and peace. The problem of refugees, terrorism, state violence, humiliation of human dignity, modern forms of slavery and the Covid-19 epidemic are now putting politics before new responsibilities and erasing its pragmatic logic.”
He finally noted that, “The Christians of the nascent Church called each other “brothers”. This spiritual and Christ-centered fraternity is deeper than natural kinship. For Christians, however, brothers and sisters are not only members of the Church, but all peoples. The Word of God has taken on human nature and united everything in itself. Just as all human beings are God’s creation, so all have been included in the plan of salvation. The love of the believer has no boundaries and limits. In fact, it embraces the whole of creation, it is “the burning of the heart for the whole of creation” (Isaac the Syrian). Love for the brethren is always incomparable. It is not an abstract feeling of sympathy towards humanity, which usually ignores the neighbor. The dimension of personal communion and fraternity distinguishes Christian love and fraternity from abstract humanism.”