Fonte, Radio Vaticana, 21 giugno 2007

Nell’udienza al Catholicos Patriarca Mar Dinkha IV, Benedetto XVI esprime vicinanza ai cristiani dell’Iraq che testimoniano la propria fede “a prezzo di sacrifici eroici”

La difficile situazione dei cristiani in Iraq e l’impegno ad un rinnovato dialogo ecumenico: questi i temi forti del discorso di Benedetto XVI a Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos Patriarca della Chiesa Assira dell’Oriente. Il Papa ha auspicato una più stretta cooperazione pastorale tra le comunità cattolica e assira, che conta oggi circa 400 mila fedeli, ed ha messo l’accento sui risultati raggiunti dalla Commissione per il dialogo teologico tra la Chiesa cattolica e la Chiesa Assira dell’Oriente. Il servizio di Alessandro Gisotti:

Benedetto XVI porta nel cuore i cristiani che soffrono"tragicamente", “materialmente e spiritualmente”, soprattutto in quelle terre dove fin dalle origini della Chiesa, i fedeli in Cristo hanno “contribuito alla diffusione del Vangelo”. Un pensiero particolare, il Papa lo dedica ai cristiani iracheni. “In Iraq – è stato il suo richiamo – terra di tanti fedeli” della Chiesa Assira, “le famiglie e le comunità cristiane sentono sempre più la pressione dell’insicurezza, dell’aggressione e un senso di abbandono”. Molti di loro, ha aggiunto, “non vedono altra possibilità se non quella di lasciare il Paese e cercare una nuova vita all’estero”.
 
“Queste difficoltà – ha sottolineato – sono per me fonte di grande preoccupazione, ed esprimo dunque solidarietà ai pastori e ai fedeli delle comunità cristiane che rimangono in questi luoghi, spesso al prezzo di eroici sacrifici”. In queste aree travagliate, ha detto ancora, i fedeli cattolici ed assiri “sono chiamati a lavorare assieme”, nella speranza di trovare un sostegno reciproco sempre più efficace. Il Papa ha quindi rivolto l’attenzione al dialogo ecumenico, ricordando la significativa visita in Vaticano del 1994 del Patriarca Mar Dinkha IV, quando fu firmata la “Dichiarazione cristologica congiunta”. Il Pontefice ha espresso apprezzamento per i risultati raggiunti dalla Commissione congiunta, che ha concentrato i suoi studi sulla vita sacramentale nelle rispettive tradizioni. Tali risultati, ha detto, esortano a progredire anche su altre questioni oggetto di confronto.
 
“Nel pieno rispetto delle tradizioni dottrinali di ognuno – ha avvertito il Papa – cattolici e cristiani assiri sono chiamati a respingere comportamenti antagonistici e dichiarazioni polemiche”. E ciò con il fine di crescere nella conoscenza della fede cristiana. Recenti sviluppi nella Chiesa Assira dell’Oriente, ha rilevato, “hanno creato alcuni ostacoli nel promettente lavoro della Commissione congiunta”. Di qui l’auspicio del Pontefice affinché tale organismo ecumenico possa continuate a lavorare fruttuosamente negli anni a venire, “senza mai perdere di vista che l’obiettivo ultimo” è il “ristabilimento di una piena comunione” di tutti i cristiani. Nel suo discorso, Benedetto XVI si è anche soffermato sulle ondate di emigrazioni dei cristiani assiri, che ora vivono in Occidente. “Quando i cristiani dell’Oriente e dell’Occidente vivono fianco a fianco – ha sottolineato – hanno la preziosa opportunità di arricchirsi l’un l’altro e di comprendere meglio la cattolicità della Chiesa, che, pellegrina nel mondo, vive, prega e dà testimonianza di Cristo in una varietà di contesti sociali e culturali”.

DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE

Your Holiness,

I am pleased to welcome you to the Vatican, together with the Bishops and the priests who have accompanied you on this visit. My warm greetings extend to all the members of the Holy Synod, the clergy and the faithful of the Assyrian Church of the East. I pray – in the words of the Apostle Saint Paul – that "the Lord himself, who is our source of joy, may give you peace at all times and in every way" (2 Th 3:16).

On several occasions Your Holiness met with my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II. Most significant was your visit in November 1994, when you came to Rome, accompanied by members of your Holy Synod, to sign a Common Declaration concerning Christology. This Declaration included the decision to establish a Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. The Joint Commission has undertaken an important study of the sacramental life in our respective traditions and forged an agreement on the Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari. I am most grateful for the results of this dialogue, which hold out the promise of further progress on other disputed questions. Indeed, these achievements deserve to be better known and appreciated, since they make possible various forms of pastoral cooperation between our two communities.

The Assyrian Church of the East is rooted in ancient lands whose names are associated with the history of God’s saving plan for all mankind. At the time of the early Church, the Christians of these lands made a remarkable contribution to the spread of the Gospel, particularly through their missionary activity in the more remote areas of the East. Today, tragically, Christians in this region are suffering both materially and spiritually. Particularly in Iraq, the homeland of so many of the Assyrian faithful, Christian families and communities are feeling increasing pressure from insecurity, aggression and a sense of abandonment. Many of them see no other possibility than to leave the country and to seek a new future abroad. These difficulties are a source of great concern to me, and I wish to express my solidarity with the pastors and the faithful of the Christian communities who remain there, often at the price of heroic sacrifices. In these troubled areas the faithful, both Catholic and Assyrian, are called to work together. I hope and pray that they will find ever more effective ways to support and assist one another for the good of all.

As a result of successive waves of emigration, many Christians from the Eastern Churches are now living in the West. This new situation presents a variety of challenges to their Christian identity and their life as a community. At the same time, when Christians from the East and West live side by side, they have a precious opportunity to enrich one another and to understand more fully the catholicity of the Church, which, as a pilgrim in this world, lives, prays and bears witness to Christ in a variety of cultural, social and human contexts. With complete respect for each other’s doctrinal and disciplinary traditions, Catholic and Assyrian Christians are called to reject antagonistic attitudes and polemical statements, to grow in understanding of the Christian faith which they share and to bear witness as brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:24).

New hopes and possibilities sometimes awaken new fears, and this is also true with regard to ecumenical relations. Certain recent developments in the Assyrian Church of the East have created some obstacles to the promising work of the Joint Commission. It is to be hoped that the fruitful labour which the Commission has accomplished over the years can continue, while never losing sight of the ultimate goal of our common journey towards the re-establishment of full communion.

Working for Christian unity is, in fact, a duty born of our fidelity to Christ, the Shepherd of the Church, who gave his life "to gather into one the dispersed children of God" (Jn 11:51-52). However long and laborious the path towards unity may seem, we are asked by the Lord to join our hands and hearts, so that together we can bear clearer witness to him and better serve our brothers and sisters, particularly in the troubled regions of the East, where many of our faithful look to us, their Pastors, with hope and expectation.

With these sentiments, I once more thank Your Holiness for your presence here today and for your commitment to continuing along the path of dialogue and unity. May the Lord abundantly bless your ministry and sustain you and the faithful whom you serve with his gifts of wisdom, joy and peace.

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