+BARTHOLOMEW
BY THE MERCY OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME
AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
TO ALL THE FAITHFUL OF THE CHURCH: GRACE, PEACE, AND MERCY
FROM CHRIST OUR GLORIOUSLY RISEN SAVIOUR

Our beloved concelebrants and devoted and God-loving children of the Church:

With profound reverence and abundant spiritual joy the Mother Church of Constantinople together with you, her beloved children throughout the ekumene, reverently celebrates and commemorates today this radiant and bright Holy Sunday. "Uncreated light has bodily risen from the tomb and as a handsome bridegroom enhances the joy of the Resurrection.

The mystery of the glorious Resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ has steadfastly remained the center of faith and worship of our Orthodox Church. The whole of our theology of the Christian East evolves persistently around the incomprehensible miracle of Christ's victory over death. Repeatedly the Orthodox ethos has always been Paschal: "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he who in his great mercy gave us new birth; a birth unto hope which draws its life from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; a birth to an imperishable inheritance, incapable of fading or defilement" (1 Peter 1:3-4).

The historical event of the Resurrection of our Lord was never perceived in Orthodox tradition as exclusively a christological event, as a biographical incident, which in an isolated manner refers only to the theanthropic nature of Christ. Parallel and concurrently, his human nature, his reference to man[ s salvation, was also extolled.

Man and the world have often tasted of the bitterness and cruelty of death. Fifty years have passed this Pascal season since the end of World War II; a war which was the source of all kinds of suffering and sorrow, a face to face confrontation with death. The holocaust of the lost, the millions orphaned, the victims of genocide and racial hatred, but also the poverty and bodily and spiritual pain, remain in the self-awareness of humanity as a horrible memory and a sad reminder of the inhumanity and unreasoning to which man is led when apart from God.

What more was World War II but a consequence and result of the irrationality which oppresses the soul and conscience and intellect and actions of man when he, rebuking the Resurrected Lord of life, self-reliantly makes an idol of himself: "What a wretched man I am! Who can free me from this body under the power of death?" (Romans 7:24).

No one can save man from death except the Theanthropic Lord who was resurrected from the dead and who abolished "the body of death" and haw "smitten the bars of iron asunder and broken our bonds bringing us out of darkness and the shadows of death." From the very depths of his being mankind of all races and generations throughout the ages has rejected death. Knowingly or unknowingly, he turns to the values of life.

Among humankind's efforts for sanctity of life and the establishment of peace, we especially include the founding of the United Nations established fifty years ago. A few weeks following the end of the Second World War this league of nations convened in the hope for a future bereft of a bloodstained humanity. Looking to the security of world peace and the advancement of international cooperation, this union of nations revitalized peoples' morale and opened new horizons for mankind so severely tested in the past.

The events which surely will occur on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of this international organization will indeed give reason and opportunity for our re-baptism in the indestructible ideals for life, peace, justice and respect for the human person. The celebrations of this jubilee, being far above any contemporary frivolity and superficility, must raise serious questions as we look to the future. A new beginning is needed in the efforts for the world community to overcome the impasse among the nations and in general to humanize the human being.

The founding of this international organization unquestionably manifests and conveys the inner desire of man towards community and fraternization. If we depend upon the common experience of the human race, we will confirm that this desire has profound roots in the human existence and corresponds to the very nature of the human spirit. Created as an icon of God, man finds himself with all of his existence within the desire of communion and love.

Beloved shepherds and co-spiritual leaders and precious children in the Lord:

Our Holy Orthodox Church projects and experiences this communion as an uninterrupted Paschal joy; as a sincere mystery of love and glory. The incomprehensible miracle of the Resurrection imbues and enlightens our ecclesiastical life. It is revived as eucharistic participation in all of its historical vitality. The eucharistic life as unceasing communion of true life in the Church is evidence of and points to our victory over death. It is a profound conviction and ample proof that "from death we have become immortal." Herein justifiably we rejoice and give glory and thanksgiving.

Celebrating and declaring the miracle of the Resurrection from the dead of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, our Holy Church, through her theology, her worship and her ethos seeks but one thing: to underscore to all of her children that the divine events are offered in her and through her as a living communion and a historical presence for all the faithful. With humility and obedience it is adequate that man direct his path towards an evangelical life cultivated and revitalized only in the Church and through the Church. In particular, let us love "the Holy Church, instituted...in honor of God," knowing well that "the will" of our Lord, resurrected from the dead "is the salvation of man to which the Church has been called." Rejecting and disavowing all slander against the Church and any soul-destructive disobedience to her, "which is the fruit of the enemy and an obstacle to piety and a denial of the Kingdom," let us "love peace, seek unity, cultivate love for which God is pleased." "Let us cleanse our senses and witness the inaccessible light of the Resurrection." "Holding our Paschal candles, let us approach Christ who is risen from the tomb." "Let us be glorious in splendor for the festival and let us embrace one another. Let us say also, O brethren, to those who hate us: Let us forgive all things in the Resurrection and so let us cry: Christ is Risen!"

May the grace and peace and joy and the light which shattered our eternal bonds and conquered death be with you. By His Resurrection, may we also be resurrected with Christ our true God, and may our Patriarchal prayer and blessing be with you and all your family and loved ones.

Glory and honor unto the ages of ages to the Lord of life, who is risen from the dead.