USCCB - Archbishop Kurtz, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Demetrios Celebrate Growing Closeness Between Catholics and Orthodox Ahead of Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Meeting in Jerusalem
WASHINGTON—The historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem in January 1964 was a joyful occasion that swept aside centuries of division and has born good fruit, said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, in a joint statement, May 15.