Benedict XVI and ecumenism

All those who followed his Wednesday General Audience on January 18, at Pope Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, were pleasantly surprised when the Holy Father gave the news to thousands present for the audience that he would solemnly be giving to all the world his first encyclical on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, on January 25. This day to remember marks the last day of the Octave of Prayer (January 18-25) for the Unity of Christian Churches. This is certainly a very fine gesture in the name of ecumenism.

Like his great predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI is not only an authentic believer in inter-faith dialogue but also wants all bishops, priests and laity to be very genuinely involved in it. One remembers with pleasure how he stressed the importance of the great problem of ecumenism in his Mass at the inauguration of his pontificate on St Peter's Square, on April 24:

"Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us in the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him. The task of the shepherd, the task of the fisher of men, can often seem wearisome. But it is beautiful and wonderful, because it is truly a service to joy, to God's joy which longs to break into the world".

After this basic introduction, Pope Benedict went on: "Here I want to add something: both the image of the shepherd and that of the fisherman issue an explicit call to unity. 'I have other sheep that are not of this fold: I must lead them too, and they will head my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.' (John 10:16); these are the words of Jesus at the end of his discourse on the good shepherd. And the account of the 153 large fish ends with the joyful statement: 'although there were so many, the net was not torn' (John 21.11).

"Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that it has been torn! But no - we must not be sad! Let us rejoice because of your promise, which does not disappoint, and let us do all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised. Let us remember it in our prayer to the Lord, as we plead with him: yes, Lord, remember your promise. Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity!"

What the Holy Father asks from all the faithful is to remember that "almost everyone, though in different ways, longs that there may be one visible Church of God, the Church truly universal and sent forth to the whole world that the world may be converted to the gospel and so be saved, to the glory of God".