The Pope affirmed this in a message sent to a ceremony Sunday in which Italian President Giorgio Napolitano gave the keys of the Church of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy, to the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitriy Medvedev. Medvedev was later to give them to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, retired archbishop of Palermo, Italy, represented the Holy Father and read a message from him.

During the ceremony -- originally due to have taken place on St. Nicholas' feast, Dec. 6, 2008, but postponed due to the death that month of Patriarch Alexy II -- the papal message recalled how the Russian people have never faltered in their love for "this great saint."

The Pontiff noted how the church in Bari was built at the beginnings of the last century to welcome Russian Orthodox pilgrims, primarily on their way to the Holy Land.

"How could we not recognize that this beautiful church awakens in us the nostalgia for full unity and maintains alive in us the commitment to work for union among all the disciples of Christ," he asked.

And he recognized that people of Bari and the surrounding region have "ecumenical sensitivity" as a one of their "characteristic traits."

The Bishop of Rome noted his desire that this area will continue "offering its precious contribution to the path toward full communion among Christians."

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill also sent a message to the ceremony, read by Bishop Mark, ad interim president of the Department of External Church Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate. Kirill held this position until he was elected patriarch in January.

The patriarch expressed his gratitude to the "Catholic diocese of Bari and the Dominicans who today care for the relics of the saint, for the constant hospitality offered to our pilgrims."

He also thanked both the Russian and Italian authorities for making the change over possible.

For his part, Napolitano called the key of the church a "symbol of friendship between our countries and our peoples, of dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, of the commitment to strengthen the culture of peace with reciprocal understanding, with a growing closer between different cultural and spiritual traditions."
© ZENIT

The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, who has asked me to represent him in this significant ceremony, sends his cordial greetings to the religious and civil authorities and to all those present, in particular to the president of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, to the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitriy Medvedev, to the ministers, to His Excellency Mark, "ad interim" president of the Department of External Church Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, and to the most excellent Monsignor Francesco Cacucci, pastor of this particular Church. He wants to renew, above all, his fervent best wishes to the patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia, His Holiness Kirill I, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten his demanding ministry.

The Pope is pleased at the fact that this building responds, here in Bari, to the devotion of the Russian Orthodox to St. Nicholas. The Russian people has never faltered in its love for this great saint, who has always supported it in moments of joy and in difficulties. This is witnessed also by this Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, built at the beginnings of the past century, to welcome the pilgrims who, in particular in their trips to the Holy Land, made a stop in Bari, a point of encounter between East and West, to venerate the relics of the saint. How could we not recognize that this beautiful church awakens in us the nostalgia for full unity and maintains alive in us the commitment to work for union among all the disciples of Christ?

In truth, the history of Bari and of this region is marked in a profound way by the presence of the Eastern world, and ecumenical sensitivity is one of the characteristic traits of the populations of Apulia. Precisely because of this, the Holy Father Benedict XVI hopes that this ceremony too will contribute so that Bari continues being, as Pope John Paul II of happy memory said, a "natural bridge to the East," offering its precious contribution to the path toward full communion among Christians.

With these sentiments, invoking the intercession of the Mother of God and of St. Nicholas, the Pope renews his greetings to those present and sends them his blessing through my own.

[Translation by ZENIT]