"Pope's shocking discourse to representatives of ecumenism"

The event was nearly overshadowed on the fourth day of Pope Benedict XVI's visit by his address to the General Assembly of the United Nations and his appearance on the afternoon of the same day (Friday, April 18th) at the synagogue of Park East, directed by Rabbi Author Schneier on the even of the Jewish Passover. No less important, however, and perhaps more startling to many, was the address he delivered at an ecumenical meeting in the Church of St. Joseph, with 250 representatives from a dozon or more religious traditions. Sandro Magister, "Benedict XVI Explains Why Christians Are So Divided" (www.chiesa, April 20, 2008) summarizes:

During this meeting, at the end of the Liturgy of the Word, Benedict XVI addressed to those present a discourse that was absolutely out of the ordinary for such a gathering. Even more, it was highly original with respect to the previous statements by pope Joseph Ratzinger on the topic of the ecumenism.

The thesis of Benedict XVI is that Christianity is so divided both because of a mutual rivalry expressed in "prophetic actions" that tend to distinguish and divide the communities from "communion with the Church in every age," and because of "a relativistic approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies."

So instead of preaching Jesus Christ "and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2) – meaning the "objective truth" of the apostolic faith – many Christians of the various denominations prefer to urge each one to follow his own conscience and choose the community that best meets his personal tastes.

In the judgment of Benedict XVI, this reluctance to assert the centrality of doctrine "for fear that it would only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division" is also present within the ecumenical movement.

On the contrary, this is the appeal of the pope:

"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."

This appeal is all the more relevant "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)."

The salient passages of the pope's address may be found in Sandro Magister's post.