Speech During the Ecumenical Meeting with Other Christian Communities (3 November 1982)

On Wednesday, 3 November 1982, the Holy Father gave a speech in Madrid during the Ecumenical Meeting with other Christian Communities, in which he spoke of their “fundamental common bonds in the Bible, the Word of God, in the apostolic faith that we profess in the great Symbols, and which comes to life in Baptism,” urging the restoration of full unity.

1. The text of the letter to the Ephesians ( Eph 4:1-6) that we have just heard is, dear brothers, an exhortation to live Christian concern for unity in love.

I greet you with great affection, Christians of other confessions who, in Spain, propose to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The common profession of this name makes you true brothers. At the beginning of our meeting today I repeat the words of the Psalm: "Behold how good and how sweet it is / for brothers to live together!" ( Ps 132 [133], 1).

In this pastoral visit to Spain, as I usually do in my apostolic travels, I did not want to fail to get in touch with you, to pray together and share our anxieties for the restoration of unity among all Christians. From the beginning of my pontificate the cause of ecumenism has been, and always is, one of my primary objectives.

2. We are closely linked by fundamental common bonds in the Bible, the Word of God, in the apostolic faith that we profess in the great Symbols, and which comes to life in Baptism. The deepening of the sacramentality of baptism reveals before us extraordinarily positive perspectives on the path to full unity (cf. Unitatis, Redintegratio , 22). And the prayer for unity, done in each of our communities, or even, when possible, in fraternal union of hearts, is not the best means of attracting to our ecumenical commitment the Spirit of harmony that transforms our wills and does it make them docile to its inspiration?

Each geographical area has its own religious history, and ecumenical activities have, in the various places, different and peculiar characteristics. The historical configuration of your Spanish people means that the ecumenical task here has peculiar aspects. The numerical imbalance between Catholics and Christians from other Churches and Communities is evident. But the problem of division in Spain, and its possible solution, cannot be considered separately from how this same problem, and the attempts already made to solve it, present themselves on a universal level. It is very important for all ecumenical work that, in this nation of Catholic majority, the relationships between all those who bear the name of Christian are fraternal.

3. I know that, for well-known historical reasons, you have suffered in the past in order to maintain the convictions of your conscience. Thank God, that situation has been overcome, giving rise to a progressive mutual rapprochement, based on truth and charity. It is better to continue to purify the memory of the past, to move towards a future of mutual understanding and collaboration. Your presence in this meeting clearly demonstrates that you are working from this perspective.

I know - and I am extremely pleased - that there are various forms of collaboration in Spain between the Catholic Church and other Churches and Communities. The Interconfessional Christian Committee - which, on the Catholic side, has always been encouraged by the Episcopal Commission for Interconfessional Relations - has dealt with lively and current issues that concern all Christians: conscientious objection, the problem of mixed marriages, religious freedom, law to the freedom of teaching, organization and promotion of the Weeks of Prayer, the interconfessional edition of the New Testament in Castilian - a work worthy of admiration - and others. It is necessary to continue to strive for the fulfillment of the Lord's desire, manifested at the Last Supper: "That they may all be one, so that the world may believe" (cf. Jn 17, 21).

4. Thank you for your presence; my fraternal greeting also goes to all the brothers and sisters that you represent. I fervently pray to the Lord that all may be "firm in one spirit, struggling together for the faith of the Gospel" ( Phil 1:27), to the glory of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana