The task of evangelisation is closely linked to the work of ecumenism, Pope Benedict XVI has told participants in a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
“We cannot follow a truly ecumenical path while ignoring the crisis of faith affecting vast areas of the world, including those where the proclamation of the Gospel was first accepted and where Christian life has flourished for centuries,” he said.
“On the other hand, we cannot ignore the many signs indicating a persistent need for spirituality, which is made manifest in various ways. The spiritual poverty of many of our contemporaries, who no longer perceive the absence of God in their lives as a form of deprivation, poses a challenge to all Christians.”
The Pope was speaking at a private audience held in the Clementine Hall of the apostolic palace at the Vatican. The theme of the assembly was “The importance of ecumenism in new evangelisation”.
In this context, the Pope said believers in Christ “are called upon to return to the essential, to the heart of our faith, to bear witness to the living God before the world . . . . We must not forget what it is that unites us: our faith in God the Father and Creator, revealed in His Son Jesus Christ, effusing the Spirit which revives and sanctifies.”
He emphasised that the aim of ecumenism is “visible unity between divided Christians”. To this end, Christians must “dedicate all our forces, but we must also recognise that, in the final analysis, this unity is a gift from God, and may come to us only from the Father through his Son, because the Church is his Church.
“From this perspective we see, not only the importance of invoking the Lord for visible unity, but also how striving after this end is relevant to the new evangelisation.”
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Image: Rome Reports