Pope Francis receives a delegation of young priests and monks from the Oriental Orthodox Churches

On Thursday 6 February, Pope Francis received in private audience a delegation of young priests and monks from the Oriental Orthodox Churches in Rome for a study visit organised by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

In his address, the Holy Father, noting the special significance of the study visit in the year marking the 17th centenary of the Council of Nicaea, reflected on the triple meaning of the term ‘symbol’: theological, ecclesiological, and spiritual.

He explained that “in antiquity, the Greek word symbolon referred to half of a document broken in two, to be presented as a sign of identity”, affirming that “each individual possesses the faith as a ‘symbol’, which finds its full unity only when joined with others. In this sense, ‘we Christians, still divided, are like ‘shards’ who must recover unity in the confession of the one faith’.”

The meeting concluded with the recitation of the Nicene Creed.

The delegation was accompanied by Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the DPCU, and Revd Fr Hyacinthe Destivelle, OP, Official of the Eastern Section.