CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - Upon his election to the Chair of Peter some observers indicated Pope Benedict's age would make him a caretaker Pope. They were absolutely wrong. History will record the papacy of Benedict XVI with great favor. He planted seeds which will bear fruit long after he has joined his beloved predecessor and friend, Blessed John Paul II in the Fathers house. 

On April 20, 2005, the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI gave his first message at the end of a Mass he had concelebrated with the members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. He signaled his mission in these words: "Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Luke 22: 32).

"With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty."

The mission of restoring the full and visible unity of the Church was at the heart of Benedict's papacy. He made Church history, when Motu Propio, he released the Apostolic Constitution on Groups of Anglicans which began the healing of the divided Western Church. The fruits of these Ordinariates will be recounted by future historians as among the most important events in the Third Millennium of the Church.

Benedict XVI earned the great respect of Patriarchs and leaders of the Orthodox Church throughout his service in the Chair of Peter. I believe he was making progress toward some form of communion between Eastern and Western Christianity which can make the Third Millennium a millennium of communion and bring an end to the disunion of the second millennium. It remains his unfinished legacy; one which I sincerely pray his successor will pick up quickly.

I pray daily for the full communion of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. I do so because I believe it is the will of God that "All May be One" (John 17: 21).  I further believe that the healing of the division between the two churches will unleash a profound renewal of the entire Church at the dawn of a new missionary age. I believe that the gifts found in the whole Church will enrich both East and West and assist us in the mission which we must face together in our One Lord.

I watch for every sign that the two lungs of the One Church are beginning to fill with the breath of Divine Life, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone can animate the One New Man, Jesus Christ, to heal the division which has gone on for too long in His Body. Yes, I watch with the eyes of living faith. Some say I see these developments with what they would call "Rose Colored glasses". If I do see through the color of rose, it is because the color symbolizes the hope which comes from faith in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

I welcomed with great hope the selection of Patriarch Kirill as the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. His election was the first election of a Patriarch since the fall of the atheist Communist regime which governed the former Soviet Union for so many years. It was a sign of hope for the revitalization of the ancient faith in this critical time in history.

Patriarch Kirill is theologically and doctrinally solid - a man of deep faith and courage. He is a champion of the authentic Orthodox Christian Tradition and a stalwart defender of the doctrine of the ancient Faith. He is outspoken in his concern over the moral decline of Russian, European and the broader western culture. He is also dedicated to doing something about it by leading a resurgence of authentic Christianity in a new missionary undertaking to the culture.

In an insightful analysis written for Catholic Online entitled Patriarch Kirill & Pope Benedict: A Tale of Two Leaders for a new Missionary Age Orthodox priest Fr Johannes L. Jacobse, the editor of Orthodoxy Today and President of the American Orthodox Institute opined  " Patriarch Kirill is a theological conservative in the mold of Pope Benedict. Both see religion as the wellspring of culture. Both understand that Europe cannot escape a final capitulation to tyranny if it does not rediscover its Christian roots." In this insight, and in so much else which this good priest writes, he is ...