Anniversary of Ut unum sint a “unique pastoral opportunity”
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| Ecumenical celebration of Vespers at the Basilica of St Paul Outside of the Walls, January 2020 (Vatican Media) |
The chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs honours the 25th anniversary of “Ut unum sint” with a
call “to build bridges by continuing to reach out with love” to our fellow
Christians.
By Vatican News
The 25th anniversary of the publication
of Ut
unum sint “should serve as a reminder that the way of
ecumenism is the way of the Church, and that all Catholics are called to
espouse a strong commitment to building Christian unity”, says Bishop Joseph
Bambera of Scranton, USA.
In a statement issued on Monday, the chairman of the US
Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs recalled St John
Paul II’s “tireless” efforts “to build ecumenical relationships” – a work that
has been carried on by his successors.
“We rejoice that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have
continued to advance this singular mission between the Catholic Church and
other Christian communities”, Bishop Bambera writes. “We celebrate numerous
theological convergences that have been discovered in ecumenical dialogues over
the course of the past twenty-five years as we seek to grow closer together”.
Bishop Bambera notes that “in a time of pandemic, people
seek refuge and unity in their faith community”. He expresses the hopes that
the anniversary of Ut unum sint might “serve as a unique
pastoral opportunity to build bridges by continuing to reach out with love to
all of our brothers and sisters in Christ”.
The steps forward made in ecumenical dialogue in recent
decades “to heal the wounds of centuries and millennia” were recalled by Pope
Francis in a Letter sent
on 24 May to Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of Pontifical Council for the
Promotion of Christian Unity. In his message, the Pope expressed gratitude for
the progress already made towards Christian unity, while admitting that he
shared “the healthy impatience of those who sometimes think that we can and
should do more”. At the same time, he recalled that “unity is not chiefly the
result of our activity, but a gift of the Holy Spirit”.
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