VATICAN CIY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV once again received the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in audience today, a few days after the patriarch told media that the Pope would visit Nicaea later this year.
Earlier this morning, Leo XIV had the second private meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew I of his still young pontificate.
No details of the meting have been released by the Vatican at the time of publication, as is often the case for such meetings on the Pope’s calendar.
But the timing is notable given that Leo is less than a month into his papacy and he has now granted two audiences to the Eastern Orthodox patriarch.
Following the first meeting, on May 19, Bartholomew told media that the Pope might journey to Nicaea later this year:
His All-Holiness and the new Pope also agreed to meet together in Nicaea toward the end of November, near the Feast of Saint Andrew, in order to commemorate together the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, which took place in the year 325. During this historic visit, Pope Leo may also visit the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the Phanar in Constantinople.
So far the Vatican has not commented on Bartholomew’s remarks about a potential trip for Leo, and any confirmation of the rumored November trip might be expected later in the summer.
Pope Francis had originally been due to make a trip to Nicaea this month, which was to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
The papal voyage had been anticipated to be a major event in the ecumenical calendar as being rich in ecumenical significance, with many hoping for a breakthrough in relations.
Since the Great Schism of 1054, the Eastern Orthodox has broken communion with the See of Rome, and in recent decades ecumenical endeavors have been in place to attempt a healing of the rift. Though the Eastern Orthodox sacraments are valid, the church does not accept papal primacy.
A mutual declaration of excommunication between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople was withdrawn at the close of the Second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.
While Francis was personally friendly with Patriarch Bartholomew, similar warmth among the Eastern Orthodox faithful toward the Pope was not so widely found.
Leo has already made healing ecumenical relations a priority in his nascent pontificate. Addressing ecumenical delegates in the Vatican on May 19, the day after his inaugural Mass, Leo emphasized his desire for achieving unity between the churches:
My election has taken place during the year of the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. That Council represents a milestone in the formulation of the Creed shared by all Churches and Ecclesial Communities. While we are on the journey to re-establishing full communion among all Christians, we recognize that this unity can only be unity in faith.
As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
In the normal course of ecumenical dialogue between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople, delegations visit the respective sees for their patronal feasts of St. Peter and Paul on June 29 in Rome, and of St. Andrew on November 30 in Istanbul.
As part of the rare alignment of the date of Easter for all Christians this year, the Vatican backed calls previously made by Patriarch Bartholomew to decide upon a common date for Easter for all Christians – although no indication was given as to whose calendar would prevail in such a venture.
Controversies and debates over the date of Easter go all the way back to the early centuries of the Church, and have notably formed part of the division between the East and the West.
Prior to the Council of Nicaea, Easter was celebrated on different dates, and thus the council stipulated that it would henceforth be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox. However, since then, discrepancies have emerged between two calendars: the Julian, which was used at the time of Nicaea, and the Gregorian, which replaced the Julian in Europe in 1582 upon order of Pope Gregory XII due to the Julian calendar being out of sync with the seasons.
The See of Rome determines the date of Easter by following the Gregorian calendar and holding Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox of March 21.
In contrast, the Orthodox follow the Julian calendar and also use a precise set of rules to find the date of Easter. Due to the Julian calendar being less accurate, the day it uses is not always in line with the spring equinox, causing the differing Easter dates.
Though the Gregorian calendar is more in sync with the seasons of the year, the Vatican has left it open as to which calendar could be followed in determining a common date for Easter.
However, as notable as the divergence of the date of Easter is, the issue of papal primacy will likely be the largest to deal with in ecumenical relations between the sees of Rome and Constantinople.
