Ecumenical Meeting

On Monday, 12 August 1985, the Holy Father addressed an Ecumenical Meeting of representatives of the Christian Churches at the Headquarters of the Apostolic Nunciature in Yaoundé (Cameroon). The Pope underlined “the common foundations of our Christian faith.”

Dear Brothers in Christ,

1. I would like to thank you all for coming this afternoon to meet me. In particular, I thank Reverend Doctor Ambadiang for his greetings of welcome on behalf of the members of the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Missions of Cameroon.

During my pastoral visits throughout the world, I attach great importance to my meetings with representatives of other Churches and communities, in every country to which I go. Indeed, as I have often insistently repeated, ecumenism, the commitment to the service of the unity of all who believe in Christ, is an essential dimension of the pastoral work of the Catholic Church, a dimension closely linked to my service of unity, to my ministry as Bishop of Rome. For this reason, while expressing my gratitude to you and, through you, to those you represent, I address my deepest thanksgiving to God: it is he, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, in his mysterious plan, wants to unite all things in him, all that is in heaven and all that is on earth (cf. Eph 1:10).

2. Whenever Christians - men and women who are already united by their Baptism in our crucified and glorious Savior - are divided, a situation is created for which a remedy must be urgently found. And the urgency is even more pressing in a country like yours, where the Christian communities, although already numerous and strong, are still relatively young. However strong they are, the task entrusted to them by God to announce the good news to all men is disturbed, hampered by the evil of division. "Has Christ been divided?" ( 1 Cor 1:13). How can we preach the Gospel if our voices are not unanimous, but discordant?

3. However, we must humbly thank God that our divisions are not total. I have often recalled “how great and solid are the common foundations of our Christian faith” of this faith which we proclaim in the great Creed of Nicea-Constantinople (cf. for example, John Paul II, Allocutio ad Commissionum Oecumenicarum Nationalium Delegatos , 27 April 1985 : Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VIII/1 [1985] 1137ff.). On these foundations we can already build, even before the existing divisions disappear, striving to be witnesses together, before all those around us, of the salvation brought to us by Jesus Christ, our way, our truth and our life. Our persistent divisions inevitably limit the witness we can give. But these limitations must not prevent us from giving the example of a Christian life and a common witness whenever we can do so, proclaiming the good news, in love, and together to the fullest extent possible.

4. You are already doing this in a particular way, in the work of translating and distributing the texts of Sacred Scripture, through the activities of the Biblical Alliance of Cameroon. I am happy to know that the Catholic dioceses of this country are cooperating more and more in this work, because the living and permanent word of the Lord is the incorruptible seed with which Christians have been regenerated (cf. 1 Pt 1:23). As we collaborate more and more in the service of this word which is food, may the Lord of all grace lead us towards this full unity in faith which alone will allow us to find ourselves together at the table where the body of the Lord becomes nourishment (cf. Dei Verbum , 21; Sacrosanctum Concilium , 48).

Of course, the path is arduous, following the tensions of the past of which you are heirs, after the divisions that have occurred in Europe, but above all because of the needs, the depth of unity as our Lord wants it. Let us all remain humble, lucid, courageous, open, fortified by hope. Full communion will be the result of a true conversion of all, of mutual forgiveness, of theological dialogue and fraternal relations, of prayer and total availability to the Gospel, to the action of the Holy Spirit and to God's plan for the Church.

This grace of full unity in truth, in total fidelity to God, is what I ask for today with you in the prayer that we make together. Our meeting cannot be long, and my words must also be brief. “Peace to the brothers and love and faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love” ( Eph 6:23-24).

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