Pope calls for greater dialogue for Ukrainian bishops

Vatican City, Sep 24, 2007 / 09:11 am

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the bishops of the Ukrainian Episcopal Conference as they completed their “ad limina” visit and offered a plan for the Latin and Greek bishops to continue to grow in cooperation so they are an example of the unity needed for ecumenical dialogue.

The Pope highlighted the unity of the Catholic Church “in every corner of the earth announces and bears witness to the One Jesus Christ, the Word of salvation for all men and for all of man. It is for this reason that the effectiveness of all our pastoral and apostolic projects depends, above all, on faithfulness to Christ.

Within the One Catholic Church, the Holy Father underlined the crucial need for the Latin and Greek bishops to “intensify cooperation…for the good of the entire Christian people. Thus you have the opportunity to coordinate your pastoral plans and your apostolic activities, always offering testimony of that ecclesial communion which is also an indispensable condition for ecumenical dialogue with our brethren in the Orthodox and other Churches."

In order to make the dialogue more effective, the Pope suggested that the bishops meet at least once a year in order to reach "agreement between yourselves in order to make pastoral activity ever more harmonious and effective. I am convinced that fraternal cooperation between pastors will be an encouragement and a stimulus for all the faithful to grow in unity and apostolic enthusiasm, and that it will also favor fruitful ecumenical dialogue."