Only Christ can heal divisions among Christians today, says Pope
Pope
Benedict XVI
Vatican City, Jan 23, 2011 / 12:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).-
Divisions among Christians exist today as they did in St. Paul's time and there
continues to be a single source of healing – repenting and turning to Christ –
said the Pope on Sunday.
As he did the week prior at the general audience, Pope Benedict
XVI again took up the theme of Christian unity during his Jan. 23 address
before the Angelus prayer.
The subject is pertinent as the annual, global celebration of
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity continues. Observed from Jan. 18-25,
this year's Christian unity week focuses on the Acts of the Apostles and the
very first Christian community in Jerusalem.
The Geneva, Switzerland-based World Council of Churches (WCC)
and the Vatican Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity partnered with the
churches of Jerusalem to come up with the theme and materials to be used during
the week.
In his address, Pope Benedict said its origins
in Jerusalem is "meaningful." The service of Christians in the
Holy Land and the Middle East amid their trials, he said, is "even more
precious" considering their testimony which has marked by the sacrifice of
human lives.
In this context, the "cues for reflection" offered by
the Christian communities there are received with "joyfully," while
they offer the world an opportunity join together with them as a sign of
communion, he said.
The Pope went on to say
that Christians must base their lives on the four elements that make them
a "sign and instrument of the intimate union with God and of unity among
men in the world."
These four are listening
to the God's Word transmitted through the strong Tradition of the Church,
fraternal communion, the Eucharist and prayer.
According to the materials for study and prayer offered by the
WCC and the Vatican's council for Christian unity, they are "the pillars
of the life of the church, and of its unity."
Pope Benedict explained that only by "remaining firmly
united to Christ, can the Church fulfill her mission effectively, despite the
limits and the faults of her members, in spite of division."
He pointed out that Christian division was already evident in
the first century when St. Paul saw discord in the Christian community of the
Corinthians. The second reading on Sunday is a reminder to this, he said.
Paul wrote to them, "I urge you, brothers, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be
no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same
purpose."
Knowing of the community's problems, he asked them rhetorically,
"Is Christ divided?"
In doing so, said Pope Benedict, Paul "asserts that every
division in the Church is an offense to Christ; and, at the same time, that it
is always in Him, the only Chief and Lord, that we can
unite ourselves again, because of the inexhaustible force of his grace."
This is where the call, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand," from Sunday's Gospel comes in, said the Pope.
"The serious commitment of conversion to Christ is the way
that leads the Church ... to full visible unity," he said. He pointed to the
increasing number of ecumenical encounters as a sign of this.
There are also ecumenical delegations present in Rome at the
moment as well as theological dialogue set to pick up on Jan. 23 between the
Catholic and Ancient Oriental Churches, he added.
Before praying the Angelus, he prayed that Mary, "Mother of
the Church, always accompany us on this path."
The Pope will conclude the observation of the Week of Prayer
with vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-walls on the feast of St.
Paul's conversion on Jan. 25