Shining the spotlight on this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with Father Jim
Pugliese , Minister General of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and Director
of the Rome based ecumenical centre "Centro Pro Unione".
Veronica Scarisbrick
went to call on him at the centre which looks out on to the Piazza Navona and asked
him a volley of questions including one regarding our present Holy Father. Among the
points Father Pugliese highlighted was the question of papal primacy : "..Since
Benedict XVI has become Pope one of the most important elements that have taken place
concerns dialogue between Orthodox and Catholic. We all know the role of the Bishop
of Rome has , as Paul Vi said......a stumbling block on the way to Christian Unity....with
the Ravenna statement we come closer to an understanding of the role of primacy..
"
While in this interview Father Pugliese mainly spells out other landmarks
on the path to Christian Unity , on a more personal note he also shares with us the
reason for making ecumenism his mission in life : "...I'm so passionate about Christian
Unity because I believe it's the heart of what it means to be a Christian ..I think
that anyone who calls himself a Christian must be deeply committed to the search
for unity, because it is a search for love, the love that Jesus shares with us ..." Listen: