3įar more, the ecumenical movement must be part of this context of the Church's mission, which consists in bringing the Gospel to the world. This is the meaning of Christ's prayer: Ut Unum Sint'.

'To believe in Christ', he says, 'means to desire unity to desire unity means to desire the Church to desire the Church means to desire the communion of grace which corresponds to the Father's plan from all eternity. And it is this that has impelled him to work tirelessly for this unity, so deeply desired by Christ. 2 John Paul II already felt this deeply as Father of the faithful at the time when he acceded to the throne of Peter.

The Second Vatican Council highlighted this at the very beginning of the Decree on Ecumenism when it said: 'Certainly, such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world and damages that most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel to every creature'. That is why the divisions of Christians are a serious scandal, a stumbling block for non-Christians. So, Christian unity is a condition if the world is to believe. He prayed in his priestly prayer 'that they may all be one even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me'. He expressed it in his last testament as he walked toward his tragic destiny: the Cross.

In my overview, I will, of course, take as guide His Holiness' Encyclicals, Homilies, Declarations and the Addresses he has given at meetings with representatives of different religions during his Pastoral Visits throughout the world, which now number more than 100.Ĭhristian unity was Christ's dearest desire. Consequently, as I present my most cordial congratulations to our Holy Father on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of his glorious, exceptional Pontificate, and thank God for giving his Church such a worthy common Father to the faithful, I hope that this venerable areopagus will not fail to show me its indulgence. Nor did I doubt that every honour is a heavy burden as the Latin proverb aptly says: honor onus. When our venerable Dean, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to me requesting that I review ecumenism and interreligious dialogue during the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, I knew he was doing me a great honour. ECUMENISM IN THE PONTIFICATE OF JOHN PAUL IIĬARDINALS' SYMPOSIUM, 15-18 OCTOBER 2003: TALK 5

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