Catholic-Orthodox Commission Recalls Priestly Commitment
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 29, 2010 thanks to Zenit.org
Benedict XVI is expressing appreciation for
the ecumenical commitment of Monsignor Eleuterio Fortino, 72, who died due to
illness on Sept. 22. The Pope sent a telegram through his secretary of state, Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, honoring the life of the subsecretary of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who focused particularly on relations
with the Orthodox Churches.
The telegram was read by Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on Saturday afternoon in the
church of St. Athanasius of the Greeks in Rome. Benedict XVI affirmed that Monsignor Fortino carried out a
“generous commitment with intelligence and passion at the service of
unity” throughout his life.
The service was presided over by the rector of the Pontifical
Greek College, Father Manuel Nin, who in his homily recalled the passionate and
“smiling” service of Monsignor Fortino to the Church, the liturgy and
Christian unity.
After the homily, Cardinal Walter Kasper, former president of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, expressed “profound
gratitude for everything he did. I say it not only in my name, but in that of
all the men and women collaborators, of all those who esteemed him over these
long years.” The cardinal continued: “In Monsignor Fortino we have known
profound humanity; he was a faithful friend. All of us admired how, despite his exhausting illness, he
always kept his good humor and continued with the work he carried in his heart.
We have lost a friend.”
True pastor
According to Monsignor Juan Fernando Usma Gómez, who also works in
the office of the pontifical council, the celebration “was a testimony of
imposing and moving affection that made us remember how Monsignor Fortino was
not only a soul of ecumenism and a man of culture, but also a priest who was
truly a pastor of his Italian/Albanian community.”
Bishop Farrell recalled Monsignor Fortino’s last meeting with
Benedict XVI on June 28, in an audience with the delegation sent by Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on the occasion of the Solemnity of
Sts. Peter and Paul. The ecumenical patriarch also sent a message of
condolence.
Bishop Farrell highlighted the affection and esteem for Monsignor
Fortino as expressed by Orthodox Archbishop Anastasius of Tirana and All
Albania.
The priest was also remembered by participants in the 12th plenary
session of the Internationa l Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue Between
the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which took place Sept. 22-27 in
Vienna, Austria. They recalled Monsignor Fortino’s role as co-secretary of the
joint commission since its inception, and offered prayers for the repose of his
soul.
Born in San Benedetto Ullano in Calabria, southern Italy, in 1938,
Eleuterio Francesco Fortino entered as a seminarian in the Pontifical Greek
College in 1958. He completed his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Ordained a priest in 1963, he took part in the last session of the
Second Vatican Council as an assistant to the ecumenical observers. Since then
he has collaborated with the Holy See in the dialogue with the Orthodox
Churches.