Pope visits Lutherans to promote unity

(March 15, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI visited a Lutheran church in Rome on Sunday where he emphasized ways in which Catholics and other Christians bear common witness to Christ. In the German-language service at Christuskirche, in which both the Pope and Lutheran pastor Jens-Martin Kruse gave homilies, the Pontiff affirmed, "We hear many laments about the fact that there are no new developments in ecumenism, but we must say, and we can say it with much gratitude, that there have already been elements of unity." He however cautioned against being content and resting "with the successes of the ecumenism of recent years." He noted that still "we cannot drink of the same chalice and we cannot be together around the altar." "This should make us sad because it is a sinful situation, but unity cannot be created by men," the Pope said. He urged all to entrust themselves to the Lord, who alone can give them unity. The Lutheran community of Rome has some 350 members. In 1983 Pope John Paul II visited the church on the occasion of the 5th centenary of the birth Protestantism, Martin Luther. Pope Benedict’s Sunday visit was to commemorate last year’s 10th anniversary of the signing of the joint declaration on justification between the two churches.