Tuesday 1 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI says he thinks St Paul offers "extremely helpful" guidance in the journey toward unity among Christians.

The Pope affirmed this Saturday upon receiving Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The patriarch was in Rome for the feast of Sts Peter and Paul and the solemn opening of the Pauline Jubilee Year, which runs through 29 June 2009.

"St Paul reminds us that full communion between all Christians has its foundation in 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism,'" the Holy Father said, citing the Letter to the Ephesians. "May the common faith, the one baptism for the remission of sins and obedience to the one Lord and savior, be able to express themselves fully as soon as possible in the communal and ecclesial dimension.

"'Only one body and one Spirit,' affirms the apostle to the Gentiles, and adds: 'As only one is the hope to which you have been called.'

"St Paul indicates to us, moreover, a sure way to maintain unity and, in the case of division, to repair it."

Citing the Second Vatican Council, Pope Benedict XVI recalled how guidelines from St Paul were proposed in the context of the ecumenical commitment, "making reference to the weighty and always current words of the Letter to the Ephesians: 'I exhort you, therefore, I who am a prisoner of the Lord, to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the vocation you have received, with all humility, meekness and patience, enduring events with love, seeking to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.'"

The Pope said Paul gave a further exhortation to unity in his letters to Corinth, where "discord had arisen."

"St Paul does not hesitate to address a strong call for them all to remain in agreement, for there to be no divisions among them, and for them to unite in the same mind and purpose," he said.

Still, Pope Benedict XVI lamented, in the modern world, divisions continue, despite people's longing for peace. And in this regard, he affirmed, Christian unity is necessary for the world.

"In our world, in which the phenomenon of globalisation is being consolidated, yet, despite this, persistent divisions and conflicts continue, men and women feel a growing need for certainty and peace," he said. "However, at the same time, they remain lost, as if ensnared by a certain form of hedonist and relativist culture which casts doubt upon the very existence of truth.

"The apostle's guidance in this matter is extremely helpful in encouraging efforts aimed at seeking full unity among Christians, which is so necessary in order to offer mankind of the third millennium an ever more resplendent witness of Christ, way, truth and life. Only in Christ and in his Gospel can humanity find the answer to its deepest hopes."

The Pope concluded expressing his prayer that the Pauline Jubilee Year will "help Christian people renew the ecumenical commitment, and may there be an intensification of joint efforts on the journey to the full communion of all Christ's disciples."

[Zenit]