Posted on 01/18/2012 3:19:15 PM PST by NYer
.- Pope Benedict XVI said today that achieving Christian unity requires more than “cordiality and cooperation” and that it must be accompanied by interior conversion.
“Faith in Christ and interior conversion, both individual and communal, must constantly accompany our prayer for Christian unity,” said the Pope to over 8,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Jan. 18.
The Pope’s comments mark the start of the 2012 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that runs until Jan. 25. It will be observed by over 300 Christian churches and ecclesial communities around the globe.
The Pope asked for “the Lord in a particular way to strengthen the faith of all Christians, to change our hearts and to enable us to bear united witness to the Gospel.”
In this way, he said, they “will contribute to the new evangelization and respond ever more fully to the spiritual hunger of the men and women of our time.”
The Pope explained that the concept of a week of prayer for Christian unity was initiated in 1908 by Paul Wattson, an Episcopalian minister from Maryland. One year later, he became a Catholic and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood.
Pope Benedict recalled how the initiative was supported by his predecessors Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV. It was then “developed and perfected” in the 1930s by the Frenchman Abbé Paul Couturier, who promoted prayer “for the unity of the Church as Christ wishes and according to the means he wills.”
The mandate for the week of prayer, the Pope underscored, comes from the wish of Christ himself at the Last Supper “that they may all be one.” He observed that this mission was given a particular impetus by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) but added that “the unity we strive for cannot result merely from our own efforts.” Rather, “it is a gift we receive and must constantly invoke from on high.”
The theme for 2012 Week of Prayer – “All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord” – was crafted by the Polish Ecumenical Council. Pope Benedict said it reflects “their own experience as a nation,” which stayed faithful to Christ “in the midst of trials and upheavals,” including years of occupation by the Nazis and later the Communists.
The Pope tied the victory the Polish people experienced over their oppressors to overcoming the disunity that marks Christians.
He said that the “unity for which we pray requires inner conversion, both shared and individual,” and it cannot be “limited to cordiality and cooperation.” Instead, Christians must accept “all the elements of unity which God has conserved for us.”
Ecumenism, the Pope stated, is not an optional extra for Catholics but is “the responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized.” Christians, he said, must make praying for unity an “integral part” of their prayer life, “especially when people from different traditions come together to work for victory in Christ over sin, evil, injustice and the violation of human dignity.”
Pope Benedict then touched on the lack of unity in the Christian community, which he said “hinders the effective announcement of the Gospel and endangers our credibility.” Evangelizing formerly Christian countries and spreading the Gospel to new places will be “more fruitful if all Christians together announce the truth of the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and give a joint response to the spiritual thirst of our times,” he explained.
The Pope concluded his comments with the hope that this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will lead to “increased shared witness, solidarity and collaboration among Christians, in expectation of that glorious day when together we will all be able to celebrate the Sacraments and profess the faith transmitted by the Apostles.”
The general audience finished with Pope Benedict addressing pilgrims in various languages, including greeting a group of men and women from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, before leading the crowd in the Our Father and imparting his apostolic blessing.
On the contrary, the historical record begins with the Bible, since the Bible itself is an historical record from apostolic sources. If the Bible refutes your position, which it does, ... then we are done.
>>The Bible never claims to be a complete historical record. Show me the exact verse where it does.
Stop begging the question.
I did search the scriptures. I just realized that Protestantism IS tripe, period. End of discussion.
So what about the anathemas. The only thing Protestantism amounts to is an exit visa from Christian civilization.
Tradition IS God’s word, written and unwritten.
If you have a problem with being under anathema, then that’s your problem. Not mine.
All it takes is one individual who is willing to let someone else tell him what to believe.
>>Didn’t Satan say something like that? Protestantism has been a tool of the devil from what I have seen since I started thinking critically about Protestant scriptural arguments.
When will you question what other people have taught you about the Bible?
Do you also need a lesson in reading comprehension? I linked to both the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and both show evidence of supporting socialistic causes! Aren't both of these organizations recognized by the Catholic Church? Then I guess that what they are advocating is also supported by the Catholic Church. Did you even bother to look at the sites before commenting?
Nothing has anything to do with any “priest.”
There is no priest but Christ.
Its about mothers and fathers reading God’s word to their children.
Its about radio preachers reading God’s word to the masses
Its about getting really saved by believing on the Son of God, not eating a satanic ‘salvation cookie’ on sunday.
Its about learning to pray to the Father rather than worshipping dead humans.
Its about not entering any building that is festooned with Gold, Mammon, and Idols, and not calling that dungeon the house of God.
.
The First Church of Me,Myself,I and a mirror to interpret every little aspect of the "the word"!
So I guess When Christ ascended into Heaven. The Apostles were just standing there while the angels handed out Clean Guttenberg presssed Bibles. It was not the Holy Spirit which brought forth a Church Then a Bible which is to be used by the same Church.
This does appear to be the default answer.
I never said the Bible contains a complete historical record. But what it contains is sufficient. If there was something of importance, it would be in there. I am not talking specific words (I'm tired of the trinity cop out), but theological doctrine.
My point is that the primacy of Rome (which is certainly the most or one of the most important doctrines in RCism) would be in the Bible if it was important. And I mentioned that Revelation does not support an assumed Roman primacy for any of the churches in Revelation; nor does Christ even address the church at Rome or the supreme pontif (whoever it was in 95 AD).
You would think Jesus Christ would have something to say to the vicar of Himself if He had something to say to these 7 churches in Asia.
I guess I'm not really expecting an answer.
It was truly an unholy spirit that founded the “catholic” church three centuries after Christ ascended into heaven. That ‘church’ has led untold billions into destruction.
Prior to that, Christians worshiped openly in accordance with the word of God, and held his appointed days in reverence.
The true worship will be restored; the Lord told us so in his Revelation.
Tell that to Jesus's face when you meet him.
>> “I guess I’m not really expecting an answer.” <<
.
Turn the crank, and the Jack-in-the-Box pops up - that’s all you get.
Billions? You have that accountant's number Book somewhere?
Jesus has already told all of us that in his word.
BTW, thanks for the free Idols.
I was born a Catholic. My husband is a Protestant...when he had a heart attack...and blew a hole in his heart...the surgery lasted forever. My Mom talked to me...It was on the Feast day of St Jude Patron St. of desperate causes. St Jude got it done.
So...you attribute the healing to St. Jude rather than to God. Just WOW! I'm glad that I'm not a catholic that gives glory and adoration to Saints and I instead give all glory and faith to Jesus as my Savior
It must be fun to live in your head with peter pan and the Easter bunny.
You keep begging the question and arguing from silence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Your argument is illogical. Jesus said nothing about the Bishop of Rome, ergo the Roman primacy didn’t exist.
It is about as logical as the gay activists who say Jesus never mentioned “loving committed” homosexual relationships, so he doesn’t look down on them.
The Epistle of St. Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, regarded by tradition as the third Pope of Rome, was included by some early Christian writers as part of the New Testament for at least 400 years or more.
You can argue from silence all you like.
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