The Bridge of San Teodoro
David Carlson on East Meeting West in Rome, Part II
Sometimes called pontifex maximus, “the great bridge builder,” the popes of Rome have built many bridges over the centuries, but Pope John Paul II has sought to build a bridge of a different kind, one reconnecting the western shore of Roman Catholicism with the eastern shore of Orthodox Christianity. His recent trips to Greece, the Middle East, and the Ukraine have been very visible steps in this direction, but doctrinal differences and long-remembered wounds are proving formidable challenges to overcome.
In a small Byzantine-style church on the ancient Palatine Hill of Rome, he built the bridge a few more feet. On the feast of St. Andrew, November 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II bequeathed the ancient church of San Teodoro to the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople for the use of Greek Orthodox Christians in Rome. The church, as early as the sixth century at the heart of the Greek community in Rome, will be the first Greek Orthodox church in Rome in nearly a thousand years.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
32.5—September/October 2019
Some Trivial Thoughts on the Study of Philosophy by Graeme Hunter
33.1—January/February 2020
Speaking Truth About the Sexes Is Not Optional by Anthony Esolen
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
