Statements on the death of Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni communicated the news in a statement, saying, “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.” Within hours, messages of condolence were received from around the world, including numerous political and religious leaders. Gathered here are some of the statements from religious leaders.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Jan. 1, 2023 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=13135
Categories: Memorials, News • In this article: Benedict XVI Transmis : 1 janv. 2023 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=13135
Catégorie : Memorials, News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI

LWF gives thanks for life of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) joins with Catholics and other faith leaders in mourning the loss of former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on 31 December 2022 at the age of 95. Recalling his deep commitment to the search for reconciliation between the divided Christian churches, LWF General Secretary Rev. Anne Burghardt said: “Pope Benedict XVI was a sharp-minded theologian whose strong academic background shaped his pontificate. We give thanks for his encouragement never to slacken in the ecumenical endeavour and we will gratefully remember his appreciation of the Joint Declaration of Doctrine of Justification that has enabled many advances in Lutheran-Roman Catholic relations.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Dec. 31, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=13137
Categories: Lutheran World Information • In this article: Benedict XVI Transmis : 31 déc. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=13137
Catégorie : Lutheran World Information • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI

After Dove Debacle – Vatican Makes Balloons New Peace Symbol

Dove lovers, rejoice.

Balloons, not doves, were released as a gesture of peace Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, a year after an attack by a seagull and a crow on the symbolic birds sparked protests by animal rights groups.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Jan. 25, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=13141
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, peace Transmis : 25 janv. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=13141
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, peace

Reflections

Last week I invited reflections from the readers of Ecumenism in Canada on the ecumenical significance of the papal resignation. Here are the first of the reflections received:

John H. Armstrong, ACT3 Network, Carol Stream, IL (USA) — While the media discusses what they think about a pope resigning office ecumenical Christians should ask deeper questions rooted in faith, hope and love. I believe Pope Benedict XVI made a courageous decision that demonstrates deep humility. In this decision he has opened the door to deeper conversations about the unity of the whole church. The fuller implications of his decision will not be understood for decades. Historians will likely see this as a significant step into a new world shaped by global realities. Will the papacy be the same in 2050? I doubt it. I have no idea what this means but I do believe history was made by the decision of this humble man, a decision that showed us what serving Christ looks like in a time when true peacemaking and humility could not be more important.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Feb. 28, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=3036
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Benedict XVI, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, papacy, petrine ministry, Ut Unum Sint Transmis : 28 févr. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=3036
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, papacy, petrine ministry, Ut Unum Sint

Ecumenical reflections on a papal resignation

I invite you to contribute your own reflections to the ‘Ecumenism in Canada” website. A little more than a week has passed since the surprising news that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to resign at the end of February. Now that the initial flurry of news reports have reported the details of his resignation and the expected process of the conclave in March, I invite you to join in a more reflective moment to consider the ecumenical significance of the papal resignation.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II issued his encyclical on commitment to ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint, in which he invited discussion and dialogue about ways in which the petrine ministry might be reformed to more effectively serve as a universal ministry of unity. The resignation of Pope Benedict is one of the most visible reforms of the papacy in recent memory. What is it’s ecumenical significance?

I invite you to write short reflections, 100-300 words, and send them to me at editor [at] ecumenism [dot] net. I will select appropriate reflections to publish on the “Ecumenism in Canada” website. I cannot promise to publish every response, but I will endeavour to publish responses that are focused on the question at hand: What is the ecumenical significance of the papal resignation? I reserve the right to edit responses. Please include your full name, address, and occupation.

Please send your responses by February 28.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Feb. 19, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=3042
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Benedict XVI, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, papacy, petrine ministry, Ut Unum Sint Transmis : 19 févr. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=3042
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, papacy, petrine ministry, Ut Unum Sint

To Benedict, the Church came first

Clarity and charity, the Gospel proclaimed and Jesus at the heart of the Church will always be the legacy of the great teaching Pope who led off the 21st century.

Pope Benedict XVI may have surprised the world by announcing his withdrawal from the See of Peter, but his courageous decision to put the Church and the office of the Pope before any other consideration was absolutely consistent with his character.

“As a Pope he was humble, conscientious, diligent,” wrote theologian Gregory Baum in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “(He) derived no pleasure from being seen and celebrated.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Feb. 13, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7022
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Benedict XVI, pope Transmis : 13 févr. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7022
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, pope

Breaking news: Pope Benedict to resign on February 28

In a surprise announcement, this morning Pope Benedict XVI informed the cardinals gathered in Consistory that he has decided to resign effective February 28 for health reasons. The resignation apparently surprised even his closest of aides. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415 during the Council of Constance as a means of resolving the Western Schism. The Vatican expects a conclave will elect the next pope before the end of March. According to the BBC, Benedict XVI is not expected to take part in the conclave to elect his successor. The Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, announced that Benedict would retire to Castel Gandolfo after his resignation. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Feb. 11, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2939
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, pope Transmis : 11 févr. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2939
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, pope

Ecumenism: Walking Beyond Barriers

This afternoon at 5:30pm, for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Benedict XVI presided over second Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls. The celebration marked the closure of the 46th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which this year had the theme: “What does God require of us?” Many representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities participated in the celebrations, including Metropolitan-Archbishop Gennadios (Limouris), representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Rev. Richardson, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury. Communion in the same faith is the basis for ecumenism,” the Holy Father said, emphasizing that “God gives us unity as something inseparable from the faith” and that “the profession of baptismal faith in God, the Father and Creator, who has revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ, pouring out the Spirit who gives life and holiness already unites Christians. Without faith―which is first a gift from God, but also the response of human persons―the entire ecumenical movement would be reduced to a type of ‘contract’, to adhere to out of common interest. … The doctrinal questions that still divide us should not be overlooked or minimized. Rather, they should be faced with courage, in a spirit of fraternity and mutual respect. Dialogue, when it reflects the priority of faith, can be open to God’s action with the firm confidence that alone we cannot build unity, but that the Holy Spirit is the one who guides us toward full communion and who allows us to see the spiritual wealth present in the different Churches and ecclesial communities.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Jan. 25, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2996
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, Christian unity, ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 25 janv. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2996
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Christian unity, ecumenism, WPCU

Benedict XVI on interreligious dialogue

On Friday, December 21, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the members of the Roman curia, the staff of the numerous Vatican offices, in what has become an annual tradition. The speech is sometimes described as a “State of the Church” address. Regarding dialogue with other religions, Pope Benedict spoke of two fundamental rules: Firstly that dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at understanding. In this respect it differs from evangelization, from mission; Secondly, that accordingly, both parties to the dialogue remain consciously within their identity, which the dialogue does not place in question either for themselves or for the other.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Dec. 21, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2282
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, interfaith, pope Transmis : 21 déc. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2282
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, interfaith, pope

Pope Benedict writes article for the Financial Times

“Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,” was the response of Jesus when asked about paying taxes. His questioners, of course, were laying a trap for him. They wanted to force him to take sides in the highly-charged political debate about Roman rule in the land of Israel. Yet there was more at stake here: if Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah, then surely he would oppose the Roman overlords. So the question was calculated to expose him either as a threat to the regime, or a fraud.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Dec. 20, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2284
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, pope Transmis : 20 déc. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2284
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, pope

Catholics, Anglicans need to renew commitment to unity, Pope says

Remembering the common roots of the Christianity they share, Roman Catholics and Anglicans should renew their commitments to praying and working for Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The Pope and Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, held an evening prayer service March 10 at Rome’s Church of St. Gregory on the Caelian Hill, the church from which Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow monks to evangelize England in 597.

The service was part of celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order. Camaldoli monks and nuns live and pray at the Church of St. Gregory and have an active program of ecumenical contacts.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Mar. 12, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7012
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, pope, Rowan Williams Transmis : 12 mars 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7012
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, pope, Rowan Williams

Lutheran leader defends the Pope

by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, The Tablet Lutheran Bishop Johannes Friedrich has said that the Pope’s visit to the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt on his visit to Germany last year “cannot be rated highly enough”. The former Bishop of Bavaria was writing in the German Protestant monthly Chrismon about the papal visit to Germany’s Protestant heartland last
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Jan. 28, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6744
Categories: Tablet • In this article: 2017, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformation, Walter Kasper Transmis : 28 janv. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6744
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : 2017, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformation, Walter Kasper

A Response to Every Possibility of Communion

Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave Wednesday evening at Vespers on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The celebration closed the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Jan. 26, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2223
Categories: Opinion • In this article: 2012, Benedict XVI, communion ecclesiology, WPCU Transmis : 26 janv. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2223
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : 2012, Benedict XVI, communion ecclesiology, WPCU

Pope ‘rehabilitated Luther’ during visit to eastern Germany

Jonathan Luxmoore and Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, The Tablet The head of the German Church’s Ecumenical Commission has said that he believes the Pope “rehabilitated” the reformer, Martin Luther, during his visit to the country last month, write Jonathan Luxmoore and Christa Pongratz-Lippitt. Speaking on 23 September to the council of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, in
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Oct. 8, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6746
Categories: Tablet • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Martin Luther Transmis : 8 oct. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6746
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Martin Luther

Benedict’s balancing act

Pope Benedict XVI’s third visit to Germany last week was billed as the 84-year-old pontiff’s latest effort to help convince people in highly secularised Europe that their society would be better and more human if God were at its centre. He won high praise for a deeply philosophical paper given to the Bundestag in Berlin on the foundations for a free state of law (see page 10). In that address, he said it was “urgent” to start a “public debate” on the necessity of retrieving the natural law tradition in developing legislation. As with his speech at Westminster Hall a year ago, the Pope was hailed for reaching across the political and religious divide of Germany’s parliament and its intellectual class.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Oct. 1, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6742
Categories: Tablet • In this article: Benedict XVI, Society of St. Pius X Transmis : 1 oct. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6742
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Society of St. Pius X

Benedict XVI meets Lutheran leaders at the Augustinerkloster, Erfurt

As the Bishop of Rome, it is deeply moving for me to be meeting you here in the ancient Augustinian convent in Erfurt. As we have just heard, this is where Luther studied theology. This is where he was ordained a priest. Against his father’s wishes, he did not continue the study of Law, but instead he studied theology and set off on the path towards priesthood in the Order of Saint Augustine. And on this path, he was not simply concerned with this or that. What constantly exercised him was the question of God, the deep passion and driving force of his whole life’s journey. “How do I receive the grace of God?”: this question struck him in the heart and lay at the foundation of all his theological searching and inner struggle. For Luther theology was no mere academic pursuit, but the struggle for oneself, which in turn was a struggle for and with God.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Sept. 23, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6717
Categories: Tablet • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Martin Luther Transmis : 23 sept. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6717
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran, Martin Luther

Pope demands more emphasis on ecumenism in German visit

by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt for The Tablet Pope Benedict XVI has intervened personally to demand more time for ecumenical talks with the Protestant Churches when he visits Germany in September. In a highly unusual move he has written directly to the leader of the Protestant Churches, Chairman Nikolaus Schneider, expressing dissatisfaction with the brevity of the
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Mar. 26, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6740
Categories: Tablet • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran Transmis : 26 mars 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6740
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, ecumenism, Lutheran

Verbum Domini – a new papal letter on the Word of God

Last week, the Vatican published a new papal letter from Benedict XVI entitled Verbum Domini, the Word of the Lord. Technically called an “apostolic exhortation,” this letter is the final contribution from the 2008 synod. At over 190 pages in the English text, the new letter is a “must read” for all ecumenists.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Nov. 20, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=1611
Categories: Documents • In this article: Benedict XVI, pope, Scripture Transmis : 20 nov. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=1611
Catégorie : Documents • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, pope, Scripture

Benedict’s address at Lambeth Palace

You have spoken, Your Grace, of the historic meeting that took place, almost thirty years ago, between two of our predecessors – Pope John Paul the Second and Archbishop Robert Runcie – in Canterbury Cathedral. There, in the very place where Saint Thomas of Canterbury bore witness to Christ by the shedding of his blood, they prayed together for the gift of unity among the followers of Christ. We continue today to pray for that gift, knowing that the unity Christ willed for his disciples will only come about in answer to prayer, through the action of the Holy Spirit, who ceaselessly renews the Church and guides her into the fullness of truth.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Sept. 17, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6726
Categories: Tablet • In this article: Anglican, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Church of England, Rowan Williams Transmis : 17 sept. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6726
Catégorie : Tablet • Dans cet article : Anglican, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Church of England, Rowan Williams

Joint Communiqué between Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury

Fifty years after the first meeting of a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times — that of Pope John XXIII and Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, in December 1960 — Pope Benedict XVI paid a fraternal visit to Archbishop Rowan Williams.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posted: Sept. 17, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=641
Categories: Communiqué, Dialogue • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Christian unity, Rowan Williams Transmis : 17 sept. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=641
Catégorie : Communiqué, Dialogue • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Christian unity, Rowan Williams