Pope receives ecumenical delegation from Finland

(January 18, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI received in the Vatican on Monday an ecumenical delegation of Lutherans and Catholics from Finland, hoping their dialogue will help re-establish their lost unity. The Pope noted that the it was the delegation’s 25^th annual visit to Rome and said that such meetings have contributed significantly to strengthening the relations among the Christians in Finland. The delegation makes the annual trip to Rome on the occasion of the feast of St. Henry, the patron Finland. The Holy Father noted that in Finland the Churches of East and West, share a real, if still imperfect, communion. “This,” the Pope said, “is a motive to regret the troubles of the past, but it is surely also a motive which spurs us to ever greater efforts at understanding and reconciliation, so that our brotherly friendship and dialogue may yet blossom into a perfect, visible unity in Christ Jesus.” The German-born Pope noted that the Joint Declaration on Justification between Lutherans and Catholics signed 10 years ago is a concrete sign of the brotherhood rediscovered between Lutherans and Catholics. He appreciated the work of the Nordic Lutheran-Catholic dialogue in Finland and Sweden on this declaration, hoping the conclusion will contribute positively to the restoration of the lost unity.