http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=58306

Ratzinger lauds cooperation with schismatics.


Pope lauds Melkite ecuмenical effort  

Vatican, May. 8, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) paid tribute to the Melkite Catholic Church, and especially to the close ecuмenical ties between Melkites and the Orthodox churches of the Middle East, during a May 8 meeting with Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III Laham.

The Holy Father told the visiting Patriarch that as the Church approaches the beginning of a special year dedicated to St. Paul, "I cannot forget that the seat of your patriarchate is established in the city of Damascus, on the road toward which the apostle lived the event that transformed his existence and opened the doors of Christianity to all the nations."

The Pope said that during the Pauline year the universal Church should continue the effort to spread the Gospel, through an "intense pastoral outreach." That evangelical effort, he said, should include a redoubled commitment to "tear down the walls of division and mistrust" that block the way to a full restoration of Christian unity.

In that context the Pope saluted the Melkite Church for maintaining close and friendly ties with Orthodox communities in the Middle East. (Most of the world's Melkite Catholics live in that region, in Syria, Lebanon, and the Holy Land-- although there are now large Melkite communities in the US, Australia, and Canada as well.) Pope Benedict expressed his admiration for the clergy and faithful who have maintained "the vitality of the Melkite Church despite the difficulties of the region's social and political situation."