Pope's student circle examines dialogue with Anglicans, Lutherans

(August 31, 2012) The annual gathering of Pope Benedict XVI’s former students began on Friday at the papal summer residence in the hill town of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, where they are examining the ecumenical dialogue the Catholic Church has with Lutherans and Anglicans. “The fact that the Holy Father has chosen this theme for the meeting this year is a sign that the ecumenical question is of primary importance for him,” Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Viennatold Vatican Radio on the eve of the meeting. The prelate, one of the participants, said that ecumenism was an essential concept within the context of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, and it is a strong sign that the Holy Father is insisting on the importance of these meetings between separated Christians. The annual gathering is called “Ratzinger Schülerkreis,” the German for ‘Ratzinger Student Circle’, and has taken place every summer since 1977 bringing together those who defended their doctoral theses with the present Pope during his years teaching theology at various universities in Germany. A key component of the annual get-together is the involvement of Pope Benedict himself, and Cardinal Schönborn said the Holy Father’s disposition throughout is not merely academic but also “paternal” and “fraternal” towards his former students. The 85-year old German Pontiff’s 26-year academic career saw him teaching at universities in Bonn, Munster, Tubingen and Regensburg. He was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977, and was called by Blessed John Paul II to the Vatican in 1981, where he served until 2005 when he was elected Pope.