Pope: Christ Is Center of Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, Jan. 25, 2010, 09.50 Hrs (Zenit.org):

As the Church concludes its Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Benedict XVI is affirming that communion with each other comes through Christ.The Pope stated this today in the public address he gave before praying the midday Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

He referred to today's liturgy, which featured St. Paul's writings about the Body of Christ.

"The Church is understood as a body," the Pontiff said, "which forms with Christ, who is the head, one single whole."

The Apostle "wishes to communicate" the "unity in the multiplicity of charisms, which are the gifts of the Holy Spirit," the Holy Father noted.

He continued, "Thanks to these gifts the Church presents itself as a rich -- and not a uniform -- living organism, the fruit of the one Spirit who leads all into a profound unity, assuming the differences without abolishing them and realizing a harmonious ensemble."

Benedict XVI pointed out that "it is precisely in Christ and in the Spirit that the Church is one and holy, that is, an intimate communion that transcends and sustains human capacities."

The Pope affirmed that, as is tradition, he will close the Christian unity week Monday, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, with the celebration of Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Representatives from other churches and ecclesial communities in Rome will participate in this event, and will "ask God for the gift of the complete unity of all the disciples of Christ," the Pontiff said.

"In particular," he continued, "according to this year's theme, we will renew the commitment to being together witnesses of the crucified and risen Lord."

"The communion of Christians," The Holy Father affirmed, "makes the proclamation of the Gospel more credible and efficacious."

He concluded, "May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, obtain for us always to make progress in communion, to transmit the beauty of being one in the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."