Omission of Papal Title "patriarch of the West"

As most Catholics know, The Pope holds many titles. "Patriarch of the West" was one of these titles until it was dropped by the Vatican lately. People are speculating the reason behind this decision. So, the Vatican issued a statement clarifying its decision. The Associated Press reports:

On Wednesday, the Vatican's office for relations with other Christians issued a statement to clarify the omission.

It said the title was first used in 642 by Pope Theodore I, but that its exact meaning had always been vague and, over time, had become "obsolete and practically speaking unusable."
[...]
"The renunciation of the title seeks to express a historic and theological reality, and at the same time seeks to be a renunciation of a claim _ a renunciation that could be of benefit to ecumenical dialogue," the statement said.

Benedict has said uniting all Christians and healing the schism with the Orthodox were "fundamental" priorities of his pontificate. Orthodox leaders have generally welcomed his outreach.

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I think it has a lot to do with uniting all Christians. It's a very difficult goal but shouldn't be impossible. It will definitely take many years until we can achieve some sort of unity.