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Pope Benedict XVI- Apostolic Journey to USA |
 Address at Ecumenical Prayer Service
"A Faithful Witness to the Gospel Is As Urgent As Ever"
Pope Benedict XVI
New York City, USA
April 18, 2008
www.zenit.org
Here is the
address Benedict XVI delivered Friday at an ecumenical prayer
service at St. Joseph's Parish.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My heart abounds with gratitude to Almighty God -- “the Father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:6) --
for this blessed opportunity to gather with you this evening in
prayer. I thank Bishop Dennis Sullivan for his cordial welcome,
and I warmly greet all those in attendance representing
Christian communities throughout the United States. May the
peace of our Lord and Savior be with you all!
Through you, I express my sincere appreciation for the
invaluable work of all those engaged in ecumenism: the National
Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together, the Catholic
Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs,
and many others. The contribution of Christians in the United
States to the ecumenical movement is felt throughout the world.
I encourage all of you to persevere, always relying on the grace
of the risen Christ whom we strive to serve by bringing about
“the obedience of faith for the sake of his name” (Rom 1:5).
We have just listened to the scriptural passage in which Paul --
a “prisoner for the Lord” -- delivers his ardent appeal to the
members of the Christian community at Ephesus. “I beg you,” he
writes, “to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have
been called … eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace” (Eph 4:1-3). Then, after his impassioned litany
of unity, Paul reminds his hearers that Jesus, having ascended
into heaven, has bestowed upon men and women all the gifts
necessary for building up the Body of Christ (cf. Eph 4:11-13).
Paul’s exhortation resounds with no less vigor today. His words
instill in us the confidence that the Lord will never abandon us
in our quest for unity. They also call us to live in a way that
bears witness to the “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32), which has
always been the distinguishing trait of Christian koinonia (cf.
Acts 2:42), and the force drawing others to join the community
of believers so that they too might come to share in the
“unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8; cf. Acts 2:47; 5:14).
Globalization has humanity poised between two poles. On the one
hand, there is a growing sense of interconnectedness and
interdependency between peoples even when -- geographically and
culturally speaking -- they are far apart. This new situation
offers the potential for enhancing a sense of global solidarity
and shared responsibility for the well-being of mankind. On the
other hand, we cannot deny that the rapid changes occurring in
our world also present some disturbing signs of fragmentation
and a retreat into individualism. The expanding use of
electronic communications has in some cases paradoxically
resulted in greater isolation. Many people -- including the
young -- are seeking therefore more authentic forms of
community. Also of grave concern is the spread of a secularist
ideology that undermines or even rejects transcendent truth. The
very possibility of divine revelation, and therefore of
Christian faith, is often placed into question by cultural
trends widely present in academia, the mass media and public
debate. For these reasons, a faithful witness to the Gospel is
as urgent as ever. Christians are challenged to give a clear
account of the hope that they hold (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
Too often those who are not Christians, as they observe the
splintering of Christian communities, are understandably
confused about the Gospel message itself. Fundamental Christian
beliefs and practices are sometimes changed within communities
by so-called “prophetic actions” that are based on a hermeneutic
not always consonant with the datum of Scripture and Tradition.
Communities consequently give up the attempt to act as a unified
body, choosing instead to function according to the idea of
“local options”. Somewhere in this process the need for
diachronic koinonia -- communion with the Church in every age --
is lost, just at the time when the world is losing its bearings
and needs a persuasive common witness to the saving power of the
Gospel (cf. Rom 1:18-23).
 Faced with these difficulties, we must first recall that the
unity of the Church flows from the perfect oneness of the
Trinitarian God. In John’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus prayed
to his Father that his disciples might be one, “just as you are
in me and I am in you” (Jn 17:21). This passage reflects the
unwavering conviction of the early Christian community that its
unity was both caused by, and is reflective of, the unity of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, in turn, suggests that the
internal cohesion of believers was based on the sound integrity
of their doctrinal confession (cf. 1 Tim 1:3-11). Throughout the
New Testament, we find that the Apostles were repeatedly called
to give an account for their faith to both Gentiles (cf. Acts
17:16-34) and Jews (cf. Acts 4:5-22; 5:27-42).
The core of their argument was always the historical fact of
Jesus’s bodily resurrection from the tomb (Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15;
4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30). The ultimate effectiveness of their
preaching did not depend on “lofty words” or “human wisdom” (1
Cor 2:13), but rather on the work of the Spirit (Eph 3:5) who
confirmed the authoritative witness of the Apostles (cf. 1 Cor
15:1-11). The nucleus of Paul’s preaching and that of the early
Church was none other than Jesus Christ, and “him crucified” (1
Cor 2:2). But this proclamation had to be guaranteed by the
purity of normative doctrine expressed in creedal formulae --
symbola -- which articulated the essence of the Christian faith
and constituted the foundation for the unity of the baptized
(cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5; Gal 1:6-9; "Unitatis Redintegratio," 2).
My dear friends, the power of the kerygma has lost none of its
internal dynamism. Yet we must ask ourselves whether its full
force has not been attenuated by a relativistic approach to
Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies,
which, in alleging that science alone is “objective”, relegate
religion entirely to the subjective sphere of individual
feeling. Scientific discoveries, and their application through
human ingenuity, undoubtedly offer new possibilities for the
betterment of humankind. This does not mean, however, that the
“knowable” is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor
religion restricted to the shifting realm of “personal
experience”.
For Christians to accept this faulty line of reasoning would
lead to the notion that there is little need to emphasize
objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for
one need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a
community that best suits his or her individual tastes. The
result is seen in the continual proliferation of communities
which often eschew institutional structures and minimize the
importance of doctrinal content for Christian living.
Even within the ecumenical movement, Christians may be reluctant
to assert the role of doctrine for fear that it would only
exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a clear,
convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ
Jesus has to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic
teaching: a teaching which indeed underlies the inspired word of
God and sustains the sacramental life of Christians today.
Only by “holding fast” to sound teaching (2 Thess 2:15; cf. Rev
2:12-29) will we be able to respond to the challenges that
confront us in an evolving world. Only in this way will we give
unambiguous testimony to the truth of the Gospel and its moral
teaching. This is the message which the world is waiting to hear
from us. Like the early Christians, we have a responsibility to
give transparent witness to the “reasons for our hope”, so that
the eyes of all men and women of goodwill may be opened to see
that God has shown us his face (cf. 2 Cor 3:12-18) and granted
us access to his divine life through Jesus Christ. He alone is
our hope! God has revealed his love for all peoples through the
mystery of his Son’s passion and death, and has called us to
proclaim that he is indeed risen, has taken his place at the
right hand of the Father, and “will come again in glory to judge
the living and the dead” (Nicene Creed).
May the word of God we have heard this evening inflame our
hearts with hope on the path to unity (cf. Lk 24:32). May this
prayer service exemplify the centrality of prayer in the
ecumenical movement (cf. "Unitatis Redintegratio," 8); for
without it, ecumenical structures, institutions and programs
would be deprived of their heart and soul. Let us give thanks to
Almighty God for the progress that has been made through the
work of his Spirit, as we acknowledge with gratitude the
personal sacrifices made by so many present and by those who
have gone before us.
By following in their footsteps, and by placing our trust in God
alone, I am confident that -- to borrow the words of Father Paul
Wattson -- we will achieve the “oneness of hope, oneness of
faith, and oneness of love” that alone will convince the world
that Jesus Christ is the one sent by the Father for the
salvation of all.
I thank you all.
© Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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