Catholics and Orthodox Christians make a pilgrimage to Mount Athos

The Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia and the Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Kuwait and Baghdad jointly led a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, which took place from September 6 to 9. The delegation received the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and was able to visit twelve of the twenty monasteries.

The Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia (with jurisdiction over the territories of Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain), Bishop Aldo Berardi, and the Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Kuwait and Baghdad, Archbishop Ghattas Hazim (of the Patriarchate of Antioch), jointly led a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, which took place from September 6 to 9. The participants, who also received the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, were able to visit twelve of the twenty monasteries. Bishop Berardi described it as a “historic journey.” 

“Historic” as it reflects “the good relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Kuwait.” This is how Bishop Berardi explained the pilgrimage to Mount Athos, as reported in a press release from the Vicariate. 

The Delegation of Catholics and Orthodox

Bishop Berardi—accompanied by a delegation that included Fr. Sliman Hifawi (of the Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family in Kuwait), Fr. Boutrus Gharib (of the Greek Catholic Church in Kuwait), seminarian Pedro Mendoza (of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem), and Mr. Pierre Maalouf; and, representing the Orthodox Church, Father Ephrem Al Toumi—had the opportunity to gain firsthand insight into the monastic spirituality of Mount Athos, the statement explains.

Welcomed first at Simonopetra and later at Vatopedi, the delegation visited 12 of the 20 monasteries that make up the “third finger” of the Chalkidiki Peninsula in Greece. Although these monasteries are subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, they enjoy a high degree of autonomy, thanks to the administrative, disciplinary, and spiritual authority that each abbot exercises within his own monastic community.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's blessing

The statement from the Vicariate goes on to say that Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed Metropolitan Hazim’s request to move forward with this initiative, “aimed at continuing to open paths toward Christian unity,” and agreed to bestow his blessing upon its participants.

Mount Athos: A place rich in holiness

Mount Athos has always been a place rich in holiness, where a number of saints have ties including St. Gregory Palamas (14th century) and St. Areta (6th century)—the latter being one of the patron saints of the Church on the Arabian Peninsula for both Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Vatican News
Source: vaticannews.va/en