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                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   PLENARY OF PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 18 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Participants in the plenary assembly of the   
   Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who have been meeting to   
   examine the subject "Towards a new stage of ecumenical dialogue", were received   
   this morning by the Holy Father.   
      
   Benedict XVI began his address to them by recalling the fiftieth anniversary,   
   which fell yesterday, of the foundation of this dicastery, created by Blessed   
   John XXIII in 1960 on the eve of Vatican Council II. Originally called the   
   Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, it became a pontifical council in   
   1988 by wish of John Paul II.   
      
   John XXIII's decision "represented a milestone on the ecumenical journey of the   
   Catholic Church", said the Pope. "Over these fifty years more realistic   
   knowledge and greater respect for other Churches and ecclesial communities have   
   been acquired, overcoming the sediments of historical prejudice. Theological   
   dialogue has increased, and so has the dialogue of charity. Various forms of   
   collaboration have been developed, including - apart from those that aim to   
   defend of life, protect creation and combat injustice - important and fruitful   
   steps in the field of the ecumenical translations of Sacred Scripture".   
      
   The Pope then turned his attention to the "Harvest Project", an initiative of   
   the dicastery to draw up an initial assessment of results. It has, he said,   
   "highlighted areas of convergence and those in which reflection must continue   
   and intensify". In this context the Holy Father invited members of the   
   pontifical council to continue "your task of promoting the correct reception of   
   the results achieved so far, and publicising the current state of theological   
   research on the journey towards unity.   
      
   "Today", he added, "some people believe that this journey has lost its impetus,   
   especially in the West. Thus do we see the urgent need to revive ecumenical   
   interest and give a fresh incisiveness to dialogue", facing such challenges as   
   "new anthropological and ethical understandings, the ecumenical education of   
   new generations and the greater fragmentation of the ecumenical panorama".   
      
   "The Catholic Church passionately continues her dialogue with the Orthodox   
   Churches and the Ancient Eastern Churches, with which bonds of the 'closest   
   intimacy' exist, seriously and rigorously seeking to develop our shared   
   theological, liturgical and spiritual heritage, and to face the elements that   
   still divide us. With the Orthodox we have reached a crucial point of   
   confrontation and reflection: the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion   
   of the Church. The ecclesiological question is also at the heart of dialogue   
   with the Ancient Eastern Churches: despite many centuries of misunderstanding   
   and remoteness we have joyfully noted that we have preserved a precious shared   
   heritage".   
      
   "Though faced with new problematic situations or difficult points of   
   discussion, the goal of the ecumenical journey remains unchanged, as does the   
   firm intention to continue. This is not however, a commitment that falls into   
   what could be called political categories, in which negotiating ability or   
   greater capacity to reach compromise come into play, and in which the   
   participants hope that, as good mediators, after a certain period they will   
   reach an agreement acceptable to everyone.   
      
   "Ecumenical activity has a dual dynamic", the Pope explained. "On the one hand   
   it means searching dedicatedly, passionately and tenaciously for all the unity   
   in truth, devising models of unity, illuminating points of contention and   
   obscurity in order to achieve unity. This must take place through the necessary   
   theological dialogue, but above all in prayer and penance, in that ecumenical   
   spirit which constitutes the pulsating heart of the entire journey. The unity   
   of Christians is and remains prayer, it dwells in prayer. On the other hand   
   there is another operational dynamic which arises from our firm awareness that   
   we do not know the time that the unity of all Christ's disciples will be   
   achieved, and we cannot know it because we do not 'make' unity, God 'makes' it;   
   it comes from on high, ... it is a participation in divine unity. Yet this must   
   not diminish our commitment; quite the contrary, it must make us ever more   
   attentive to recognising the signs and times of the Lord, knowing how to   
   recognise with gratitude what unites us and working to ensure it ... grows".   
      
   "In the final analysis", the Holy Father concluded, "also on the ecumenical   
   journey we must leave to God that which is exclusively His and seriously   
   explore, with constancy and dedication, our own task, bearing in mind that that   
   our commitment is characterised by the twofold concepts of acting and   
   suffering, activity and patience, fatigue and joy".   
   AC/VIS 20101118 (760)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)