VATICAN: Pope Leo XIV fosters renewal in Eastern Churches during historic Jubilee audience
Pope Leo XIV has sparked a renewed sense of mission and unity among Eastern Catholic leaders during a historic audience last Wednesday (14th May) at the Vatican.
Participants left the meeting “full of hope and spiritual joy”, according to Archbishop Boutros Marayati of the Armenian Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo, Syria.
Representatives of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches met with the new pontiff in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, as part of a three-day Jubilee event that included seven Eastern-rite liturgies celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica and the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome.
Archbishop Marayati told ACN: “The Pope is aware of what our Churches in the East are going through. He is close to us.
“He asks that we pray for him, as he prays for us. In Pope Leo, God gave us a new hope. We walk together firmly, without fear.”
Archbishop Nizar Semaan of the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Adiabene, Iraq said: “He made us feel proud.
“Sometimes we think that we have nothing to offer, that we are few in numbers, and dwindling – but he reminded us that we have a rich liturgy, and a deep spirituality.
“He told us we should not only preserve it like a treasure but also share it with the world. That was very moving.”
Archbishop Semaan added: “He told us: ‘You are the light of the world.’
“We know that resurrection, and light, come after suffering.
“In the Middle East we are experiencing a cross, but it will be followed by light.”
Bishop Hani Nassif Wasef Bakhoum Kiroulos, auxiliary bishop of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria, told ACN that the meeting with Pope Leo XIV “really was a blessing”.
He said: “His Holiness focused on the importance of our heritage and the present situation of the Eastern Churches, which he described as the Church of Martyrs.
“He asked the faithful not to abandon their country, and to preserve this heritage.”
Bishop Kiroulos added: “He said that the Church needs the Eastern Churches.
“It was a deeply historical and spiritual event, which reflects the Pope’s vision of peace and unity, that we should preserve our traditions and pray for a true peace – a peace based on forgiveness and the courage to begin a new chapter.”
Syriac Catholic Bishop Jules Boutros of Antioch said: “The most beautiful thing was that he personally promised to follow up on our needs through the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.
“This is concrete hope, which is a consolation for us.”
In 2024, ACN supported the Eastern Catholic Churches around the world with £13 million (€15.7 million) across more than 560 projects.