Pope Benedict on Christian Unity

On January 25 Pope Benedict XVI, at a Vespers service closing a week of prayer for Christian unity, preached  about the need to be a "witness of the Risen Christ in accordance with the mandate he entrusted to his disciples..." Included in this mandate is Christ's constant call for unity among Christians. And yet today we are, in the Holy Father's words, plagued by "the contradiction posed by division among Christians. Indeed," Pope Benedict continued, "how can non-believers accept the Gospel proclamation if Christians, even if they all call on the same Christ, are divided among themselves?" A good question, and one that seems to be the centerpiece of Benedict's approach to Christian unity. 

The pope, of course, is correct. Lacking the unity that Christ called for, the Christian message is as fractured as the Christian community. How did Jesus put it? 

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." [Jn 17:20-21]

"...that the world may believe." And so Jesus tells the Apostles and us that it is only through Christian unity that worldwide conversion will ever take place. Is it any wonder that the urgency of responding to Christ's call for unity has been so strongly stressed during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI? 

Benedict, who like his predecessor is a true ecumenist, does not minimize the obstacles to unity: "Unfortunately, the issues that separate us from each other are many, and we hope that they can be resolved through prayer and dialogue." He does not stop there, however, and encourages a united witness to the world based on those common elements of our shared faith: 

"There is, however, a core of the Christian message that we can all proclaim together: the fatherhood of God, the victory of Christ over sin and death with his Cross and Resurrection, and faith in the transforming action of the Spirit."

The pope also addressed the additional obstacle to evangelization posed by the growing hostility of many to Christianity, and the need to develop new means to spread Christ's message of hope in a world where despair is so prevalent: 

"In a world marked by religious indifference," he said, "and even by a growing aversion to the Christian faith, it is necessary to discover a new, intense method of evangelization, not only among the peoples who have never known the Gospel but also among those where Christianity has spread and is part of their history."

And lastly Pope Benedict called on all of us to work toward unity among Christians, always remembering that it is God who will ultimately bring our hopes to fruition.  

"Each one of us is called to make his or her contribution towards the completion of those steps that lead to full communion among the disciples of Christ, without ever forgetting that this unity is above all a gift from God to be constantly invoked."

How fitting the the Holy Father should preach this homily in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Roman church dedicated to the Apostle to the Gentiles, the disciple who did so much to bring Christian unity to the early Church.

For the complete text (in English) of Pope Benedict's homily, click here.

God's peace...