Patriarch & Pope Meet on Sunday, Jerusalem

The initiative for this meeting was undertaken by the Patriarch, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting in Jerusalem between then Ecumenical Patriarch Athinagoras and Pope Paul VI, the first between the hierarchs of the two churches since 1054.
The Patriarch will reach Jerusalem on Friday and will officiate at a doxology at the Church of the Resurrection. On Saturday he will go to Bethlehem, and on Sunday he will conduct the liturgy along with the the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos at the Holy Church of the resurrection, where the tomb of Christ is located.
The Pope will arrive in Jerusalem on Sunday at Bethlehem where he will conduct Mass in the square in front of the Church of the Nativity, and will meet with Palestinian children and refugees. He will travel to Jerusalem in the afternoon and meet with the Patriarch, while at seven in the evening a meeting will take place at the Church of the Resurrection with representatives of various religions.

The Patriarch and the Pope will again meet on Monday.

The Ecumenical Patriarch will have separate meetings with the president and the PM of Israel, and the head of the Palestinian Authority. The Pope will have similar meetings.
The message from all ecclesiastical sources is that the two hierarchs want to continue along the path of love ushered in by their predecessors, fifty years ago. The same sources note that it is a good opportunity for the world to see a common approach towards suffering Christians throughout the world. The Pope and the Patriarch are expected to send a common message of peace towards the troubled Middle East, and the whole world.

The meeting of the two Church leaders has gained great international interest, with more than 1,000 journalists accredited to cover the meeting.