Catholic Online: Istanbul, TURKEY (AsiaNews) – An appeal to the spiritual and political leaders for the Christian family and denunciation of the continuing persecution of Christians were the focus of the Christmas message of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
On Christmas Eve, the Patriarch evoked the moment in Bethlehem when “our Lord who has always existed, the Lord without beginning and end, immaterial and imperceptible came in silence, simplicity, poverty, and as a foreigner in the drama of history.” With the Incarnation He has sanctified human existence showing us the way out of our human difficulties, while honoring both our material and spiritual motherhood.
But at the same time, Bartholomew continued, “Our Lord has exalted and defined the role of the union between a man and a woman,” and the Christian family, which “constitutes the cell of life and the cradle for the correct and proper growth of the children.” More on this here.
