Fr. Lombardi briefs journalists on final day of papal trip

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, briefed journalists on the events which took place on Sunday, the final day of Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Turkey. He described the Pope’s participation in a Divine Liturgy alongside the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew  I, as a profoundly moving experience and also commented on both leaders’ words on the issue of primacy during the Liturgy. Father Lombardi drew attention to Bartholomew’s “important” remarks on the role of the Church of Rome and of the Pope in which he spoke of a “primacy of love, of honour and of service in the prospect of synodality.” He also noted Pope Francis’s words that he is not seeking “a submission” or “to absorb” but to receive all the gifts that each has and that he is “only looking for communion with the Orthodox Church.”  Father Lombardi described the Pope’s remarks as a strong statement that he believes will help dispel any suspicion or any problem on the whole question of power – the primacy of power and not of love. 

During his address at the Liturgy, Pope Francis referred to the attack on a mosque in the Northern Nigerian city of Kano and Father Lombardi said his remarks underlined that we must stand together against every form of terrorism.   He also gave details of the Pope’s meeting on Sunday morning with the Grand Rabbi of Istanbul, Isak Haleva, describing it as a “very friendly and cordial” encounter.