ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE
ADDRESS OF
HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St. Joseph's Parish, New York
Friday, 18 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
My heart abounds with
gratitude to Almighty God – “the Father of all, who is over all and through all
and in all” (Eph 4:6) – for this blessed opportunity to gather with you
this evening in prayer. I thank Bishop Dennis Sullivan for his cordial welcome,
and I warmly greet all those in attendance representing Christian communities
throughout the United States. May the peace of our Lord and Savior be with you
all!
Through you, I express my
sincere appreciation for the invaluable work of all those engaged in ecumenism:
the National Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together, the Catholic
Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and many
others. The contribution of Christians in the United States to the ecumenical
movement is felt throughout the world. I encourage all of you to persevere,
always relying on the grace of the risen Christ whom we strive to serve by
bringing about “the obedience of faith for the sake of his name” (Rom 1:5).
We have just listened to the
scriptural passage in which Paul – a “prisoner for the Lord” – delivers his
ardent appeal to the members of the Christian community at Ephesus. “I beg
you,” he writes, “to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been
called … eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph
4:1-3). Then, after his impassioned litany of unity, Paul reminds his
hearers that Jesus, having ascended into heaven, has bestowed upon men and
women all the gifts necessary for building up the Body of Christ (cf. Eph 4:11-13).
Paul’s exhortation resounds
with no less vigor today. His words instill in us the confidence that the Lord
will never abandon us in our quest for unity. They also call us to live in a
way that bears witness to the “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32),
which has always been the distinguishing trait of Christian koinonia
(cf. Acts 2:42), and the force drawing others to join the community of
believers so that they too might come to share in the “unsearchable riches of
Christ” (Eph 3:8; cf. Acts 2:47; 5:14).
Globalization has humanity
poised between two poles. On the one hand, there is a growing sense of
interconnectedness and interdependency between peoples even when –
geographically and culturally speaking – they are far apart. This new situation
offers the potential for enhancing a sense of global solidarity and shared
responsibility for the well-being of mankind. On the other hand, we cannot deny
that the rapid changes occurring in our world also present some disturbing
signs of fragmentation and a retreat into individualism. The expanding use of
electronic communications has in some cases paradoxically resulted in greater
isolation. Many people – including the young – are seeking therefore more
authentic forms of community. Also of grave concern is the spread of a
secularist ideology that undermines or even rejects transcendent truth. The
very possibility of divine revelation, and therefore of Christian faith, is
often placed into question by cultural trends widely present in academia, the
mass media and public debate. For these reasons, a faithful witness to the
Gospel is as urgent as ever. Christians are challenged to give a clear account
of the hope that they hold (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
Too often those who are not
Christians, as they observe the splintering of Christian communities, are
understandably confused about the Gospel message itself. Fundamental Christian
beliefs and practices are sometimes changed within communities by so-called
“prophetic actions” that are based on a hermeneutic not always consonant with
the datum of Scripture and Tradition. Communities consequently give up the
attempt to act as a unified body, choosing instead to function according to the
idea of “local options”. Somewhere in this process the need for diachronic
koinonia – communion with the Church in every age – is lost, just at the
time when the world is losing its bearings and needs a persuasive common
witness to the saving power of the Gospel (cf. Rom 1:18-23).
Faced with these difficulties,
we must first recall that the unity of the Church flows from the perfect
oneness of the triune God. In John’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus prayed to
his Father that his disciples might be one, “just as you are in me and I am in
you” (Jn 17:21). This passage reflects the unwavering conviction of the
early Christian community that its unity was both caused by, and is reflective
of, the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, in turn, suggests that
the internal cohesion of believers was based on the sound integrity of their
doctrinal confession (cf. 1 Tim 1:3-11). Throughout the New Testament,
we find that the Apostles were repeatedly called to give an account for their
faith to both Gentiles (cf. Acts 17:16-34) and Jews (cf. Acts 4:5-22;
5:27-42). The core of their argument was always the historical fact of Jesus’
bodily resurrection from the tomb (Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30;
10:40; 13:30). The ultimate effectiveness of their preaching did not depend on
“lofty words” or “human wisdom” (1 Cor 2:13), but rather on the work of
the Spirit (Eph 3:5) who confirmed the authoritative witness of the
Apostles (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-11). The nucleus of Paul’s preaching and that
of the early Church was none other than Jesus Christ, and “him crucified” (1
Cor 2:2). But this proclamation had to be guaranteed by the purity of
normative doctrine expressed in creedal formulae – symbola – which
articulated the essence of the Christian faith and constituted the foundation
for the unity of the baptized (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5; Gal 1:6-9; Unitatis
Redintegratio, 2).
My dear friends, the power of
the kerygma has lost none of its internal dynamism. Yet we must ask
ourselves whether its full force has not been attenuated by a relativistic
approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies,
which, in alleging that science alone is “objective”, relegate religion
entirely to the subjective sphere of individual feeling. Scientific
discoveries, and their application through human ingenuity, undoubtedly offer
new possibilities for the betterment of humankind. This does not mean, however,
that the “knowable” is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor religion
restricted to the shifting realm of “personal experience”.
For Christians to accept this
faulty line of reasoning would lead to the notion that there is little need to
emphasize objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for one
need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a community that best
suits his or her individual tastes. The result is seen in the continual
proliferation of communities which often eschew institutional structures and
minimize the importance of doctrinal content for Christian living.
Even within the ecumenical
movement, Christians may be reluctant to assert the role of doctrine for fear
that it would only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a
clear, convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ Jesus has
to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic teaching: a teaching which
indeed underlies the inspired word of God and sustains the sacramental life of
Christians today.
Only by “holding fast” to
sound teaching (2 Thess 2:15; cf. Rev 2:12-29) will we be able to
respond to the challenges that confront us in an evolving world. Only in this
way will we give unambiguous testimony to the truth of the Gospel and its moral
teaching. This is the message which the world is waiting to hear from us. Like
the early Christians, we have a responsibility to give transparent witness to
the “reasons for our hope”, so that the eyes of all men and women of goodwill
may be opened to see that God has shown us his face (cf. 2 Cor 3:12-18)
and granted us access to his divine life through Jesus Christ. He alone is our
hope! God has revealed his love for all peoples through the mystery of his Son’s
passion and death, and has called us to proclaim that he is indeed risen, has
taken his place at the right hand of the Father, and “will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead” (Nicene Creed).
May the word of God we have
heard this evening inflame our hearts with hope on the path to unity (cf. Lk
24:32). May this prayer service exemplify the centrality of prayer in the
ecumenical movement (cf. Unitatis
Redintegratio, 8); for without it, ecumenical structures,
institutions and programs would be deprived of their heart and soul. Let us
give thanks to Almighty God for the progress that has been made through the
work of his Spirit, as we acknowledge with gratitude the personal sacrifices
made by so many present and by those who have gone before us.
By following in their
footsteps, and by placing our trust in God alone, I am confident that – to
borrow the words of Father Paul Wattson – we will achieve the “oneness of hope,
oneness of faith, and oneness of love” that alone will convince the world that
Jesus Christ is the one sent by the Father for the salvation of all.
I thank you all.
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