Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Benedict XVI to Receive Copy of Pauline Codex

At Closing of Prayer Week for Christian Unity

ROME, JAN. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- A 424-page "Codex Pauli" that honors the Apostle to the Gentiles with illustrations and writings in the spirit of the ancient monastic codices, will be presented to Benedict XVI.

Benedictine Abbot Edmund Power will present the volume to the Pope on Monday at the closing vespers of the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which will be held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The "Codex Pauli" includes original contributions from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I; Patriarch Kirill of Moscow; Gregorios III Laham, patriarch of Antioch for the Greek Melkite Church; and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams.

In his contribution, Bartholomew I wrote: "For St. Paul, unity on the one hand, and ecumenism on the other, are at the same time either virtues to which we should aspire, or gifts that come from on high.

"Moreover, the concepts of unity and ecumenism are not simply metaphorical, but ontological in content."

For Patriarch Kirill, "making himself imitator of the Apostle to the Gentiles, the Christian is called to be a living image of the Lord and thus help the modern world to receive with faith and hope the Word of God."
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:49 PM