Pope concludes annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

(January 26, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI has appealed to all Christians to give a common witness starting immediately, even though full unity has not yet been achieved. The Pope’s appeal came on Monday during his homily at the evening vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The vespers on the occasion of the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, marked the end of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18-25. The Holy Father appealed to each Christian confession to "make its contribution to take the steps that lead to full communion." Though acknowledging questions that "separate us from one another and that we hope can be overcome through prayer and dialogue," the Pontiff affirmed that there is the "central content of Christ's message that we can all proclaim together." This message is "the fatherhood of God, the victory of Christ over sin and death with his cross and resurrection, and confidence in the Spirit's transforming action," he stated. Pope Benedict XVI said Christians are called to "give a common witness in face of the ever more complex challenges of our time." On that list, the Pope said, are challenges such as "secularization and indifference, relativism and hedonism, the difficult ethical topics in regard to the beginning and end of life, the limits of science and of technology, and dialogue with other religious traditions." A common witness is also called for in new fields such as "the safeguarding of creation, promotion of the common good and of peace, the defense of the centrality of the human person, the commitment to overcome the miseries of our time, such as hunger, indigence, illiteracy, and the unequal distribution of goods."