ROME: It was 40 years ago, that Saint Pope John Paul II declared Saints Cyril and Methodius as co-patrons of Europe. With his Apostolic Letter
Egregiae virtutis, dated 31 December 1980, Pope John Paul marked the centenary of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical that introduced their liturgical feast of 14 February into the calendar of the Catholic Church.
The 9th-century missionary brothers from Thessaloniki (in present-day Greece), evangelized the Slavic peoples and took the step of adapting the Greek alphabet into what came to be known as the “Cyrillic” alphabet. Saints Cyril and Methodius are also great ecumenical figures, venerated by several Christian Churches. Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Vatican Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, released a video message to mark 40 years of the declaration of the Apostles to the Slavs as co-patrons of Europe.
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