Following the death of Pope Paul VI and the brief pontificate of Pope John I, when the ministry of Bishop of Rome was entrusted to me, I considered it one of the first duties of my pontificate to renew personal contact with the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I, who had meanwhile succeeded Patriarch Athenagoras in the See of Constantinople.
ottaa huomioon, että yhdistymisvapaus on ihmisen perusoikeus, joka on erittäin tärkeä demokraattiselle yhteiskunnallevatican.va vatican.va