What is interesting is that the Holy Father quoted the following from St. Cyprian:
[Cyprian] distinguishes between the Church visible, hierarchical, and the Church invisibile, mystical, but affirms with force that the Church is one only, founded on Peter. He does not weary of repeating that “who abandons the cathedra of Peter, on whom the Church was founded, deludes himself that he has remained in the Church” (Unity of the Catholic Church, 4). Cyprian knows well, and formulated it with forceful words, that “outside the Church there is no salvation” (ep. 4,4 and 73,21) and that “whoever does not have the Church as mother cannot have God as Father” (Unity of the Catholic Church, 4). An inalienable characteristic of the Church is unity, symbolized by Christ’s seamless garment (ibid, 7): the unity of which he says finds its foundation in Peter (ibid, 4) and its perfect realization in the Eucharist (ep. 63,13). “There is only one God, only one Christ”, Cyprian admonishes, “only one is His Church, only one faith, only one Christian people, close in stable unity in the cement of concord: and you cannot separate that which is one in its nature (Unity of the Catholic Church, 23).
It might be noted that St. Cyprian was not a Lutheran because that church had not been invented yet. He said the foundation was in Peter (and thus his successors the Popes) and the realization of unity is in the Holy Eucharist which is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Good pick up AveMaria. This is unabashed, full throttle, Christian doctrine. It is almost courageous, in this ecumenical and PC era that the pope would reiterate these truths.
Only last week the gospel reading from John concerned Christ's final prayer before his arrest. He prayed for unity. It was Christ's wish that all believers be one, "as you Father are in me, and I in you; I pray that they may be one in us." The homilist posed the question, " Are Christians as one?" No, came the reply, and he laid the blame on Satan. Just as Satan used scripture to tempt the Christ, Satan has used scripture to divide the community of believers.
It is wonderful to hear the pope rallying the Church behind the chair of Peter, just as Cyprian did over 1700 years ago. God bless Pope Benedict.