(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 06.27.2024).
- In the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis received the participants of the 97th Plenary Assembly of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO) on the morning of Thursday, June 27. The assembly took place in Rome from June 24 to 27. ROACO is an organization within the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches of the Roman Curia that coordinates aid for the Christian Catholics of the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See.
Below, we offer the English translation of the Pope’s speech: *** Dear Friends, In offering you a warm welcome at the conclusion of your Plenary Session, I greet Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, the other Superiors of the Dicastery, the Officials, and the members of the Agencies taking part in your meeting. As I look around in your presence, my thoughts turn with affection to the Eastern Churches, which must be cherished and esteemed for the unique spiritual and sapiential traditions that they preserve, and for all that they have to say to us about the Christian life, synodality, and the liturgy . We think of early Fathers, the Councils, and monasticism.
.. inestimable treasures of the Church.
Among the Eastern Churches, some are in full communion with the Successor of the Apostle Peter. They enrich the Catholic communion by their impressive history and their distinctive features . This beauty, however, is marred.
Many Eastern Churches are bearing a heavy cross and have bec.
