Relics of Early Christian Saints Returned to Orthodox Church

In an effort to promote Christian unity, the relics of two early Christian saints have been returned to the seat of the Orthodox Church, 800 years after Crusaders snatched the relics from Constantinople.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered "first among equals" of the world's Orthodox patriarchs, escorted the remains of Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Gregory Nazianzen into the Cathedral of Saint George in Istanbul Saturday.

Patriarch Bartholomew brought the relics back from Rome, where he received them from Pope John Paul during a joint service at the Vatican.

Chrysostom and Nazianzen, both archbishops, led the church during the fourth century before the split of the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity in 1054. According to Reuters, most scholars agree that the relics were removed from Constantinople when Crusaders sacked the city in 1204. The Vatican, however, says the relics of one of the saints, Gregory, were brought to Rome by Byzantine monks in the eighth century to protect them.

The remains have been kept in St. Peter's Basilica.

According to sources, the return of the relics is part of Pope John Paul's efforts to reconcile Rome with the Orthodox Churches, which has been a priority since his election in 1978.

Both Bartholomew I and John Paul have emphasized reconciliation between their churches, which split in 1054 over the growing power of the papacy.