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The Pope’s personal preacher has praised the “theological and spiritual enrichment” of the Reformation.
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa also told an Anglican synod in London that what is needed in relations between churches is a “qualitative leap forward”.
Fr Cantalamessa, who has been Preacher to the Papal Household since 1980, was preaching at a service at the Church of England’s Tenth General Synod, held in Westminster Abbey.
Addressing Queen Elizabeth II and the whole synod, he said the focus today must be on the person of Jesus the Lord, crucified and risen, not on this or that doctrine.
Fr Cantalamessa added: “This does not mean ignoring the great theological and spiritual enrichment that came from the Reformation or desiring to go back to the time before it.
“It means instead allowing all of Christianity to benefit from its achievements, once they are freed from certain distortions due to the heated atmosphere of the time and of later controversies.”
Reflecting on the preparations for the fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation, Fr Cantalamessa said, “it is vital for the whole Church that this opportunity is not wasted by people remaining prisoners of the past, trying to establish each other’s rights and wrongs”.
He added: “Rather, let us take a qualitative leap forward, like what happens when the sluice gates of a river or a canal enable ships to continue to navigate at a higher water level.”
Fr Cantalamessa said that “we need to start again with the person of Jesus, humbly helping our contemporaries to experience a personal encounter with him.”
He added: “Christ is the light of the world, the one who gives meaning and hope to every human life – and the majority of people around us live and die as if he had never existed!
“How can we be unconcerned, and each remain ‘in the comfort of our own panelled houses’?
“We should never allow a moral issue like that of sexuality divide us more than love for Jesus Christ unites us.”
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