“As a community, the Church must practice love, says Pope during ecumenical meeting in Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland, May 24, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Pope Benedict met this evening with representatives of  seven churches of the polish ecumenical council at the Holy Trinity Church in Warsaw.

Pope Benedict addressed of the Churches and Ecclesial Communities affiliated to the Polish Council for Ecumenism. “What unites us here today is our desire to meet one another, and to give glory and honour to our Lord Jesus Christ in our common prayer” Pope Benedict first declared.

Echoing to the words of Saint John "May they become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (Jn  17:23).he gave thanks for the gift of this encounter of common prayer.

“I see it as a stage in the implementation of the firm purpose that I made at the beginning of my Pontificate, to consider a priority in my ministry the restoration of full visible unity among Christians, “he continued.

Pope Benedict then recalled the work of his predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, when he visited this Church of the Most Holy Trinity in 1991.

The pontiff went on to to recall some ecumenical events which have taken place such as the signing at Augsburg of the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification"; the meeting on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 and the ecumenical memorial of twentieth-century witnesses of faith; the resumption of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue at world level, the funeral of Pope John Paul II with the participation of almost all Churches and Ecclesial Communities.

Pope Benedict wished to stress his concern for the charitable service of the Churches. “As a community, the Church must practice love. We cannot forget the essential idea that from the outset constituted the very firm foundation for the disciples’ unity,” he declared.

He called on the Churches to accept contemporary charitable challenges.
“It seems that, despite all the differences that need to be overcome in the sphere of interdenominational dialogue, it is legitimate to attribute charitable engagement to the ecumenical community of Christ’s disciples in search of full unity. “

Subsequently, he pointed out to his concerns on married life and family life.
“To all of you I express the wish that in this delicate area reciprocal trust and co-operation between the Churches may grow, fully respecting the rights and responsibility of the spouses for the faith formation of their own family and the education of their children.”

Brothers and Sisters, placing all our trust in Christ, who makes his name known to us, let us walk every day towards the fullness of fraternal reconciliation.