Vatican returns relics to heal rift with Orthodox Christians

Pope John Paul II, seeking to heal rifts with other Christians, yesterday handed over the relics of two Orthodox saints that were brought to Rome from ancient Constantinople centuries ago.

The pope sat beside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, in St Peter's Basilica as the bones of the saints, resting on yellow velvet in crystal and alabaster reliquaries, were brought the altar.

The two religious leaders later blessed the relics, before the reliquaries were carried away by Vatican ushers in dark suits for return later in the day to Istanbul, Turkey, the former Greek Orthodox Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

The Vatican is retaining some small part of the relics. During a visit to the Vatican in June, the Orthodox leader had sought the return of the relics of Patriarchs John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen, who were archbishops long before the split between the eastern and western churches nearly 1,000 years ago.

In remarks read for him by an aide, the frail pontiff called it an occasion to "purify our wounded memories" and to "strengthen our path of reconciliation".

Bartholomew, speaking next, said the handover repaired "an anomaly" and "ecclesiastical injustice" and that it was a sign that there are no "insurmountable problems in the Church of Christ".

The Orthodox leader said the gesture also served as an example to those holding religious treasures sought by others.

A religious service attended by Orthodox and Catholic clerics was to be held in Istanbul to mark the relics' return to the city.

Bartholomew and John Paul have both emphasised reconciliation between their churches, which split in 1054 over the growing power of the papacy.

The Orthodox say the relics were removed from Constantinople when Crusaders sacked the city in 1204. The Vatican, however, says the bones of one of the saints, Gregory, were brought to Rome by Byzantine monks in the 8th century.

In a statement issued yesterday, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls emphasised that Gregory's remains were brought to Rome in the earlier century and denied that the pope was "asking pardon" for the removal of the saints' remains.