Another Unity Message

Another Unity Message

            Recently we wrote about the historic video blessing sent by Pope Francis to the Protestant/Evangelical Christians (See Our Blog of March 5, 2014 “Pope’s Unity Blessing Goes Viral”).

We have been given permission to share a Papal blessing sent to Matteo Calisi, one of the leaders of the reconciliation movement, for a reconciliation meeting he held earlier this year. The message:

“ Dear Brother,

You have kindly informed me that from 20 to 22 February next a Meeting of Reconciliation will be held in Phoenix between Evangelicals and Catholics, in which you will take part. This news gave me great joy and made me more conscious of the need for reconciliation in this week in which we pray for Christian unity.

I hope that this meeting will draw down the Lord’s blessings so that we can persevere along the path to unity. We who have received the one baptism long for full communion; this is a grace of the Lord which we must fervently implore. In some parts of the world Christians are being attacked and rejected, at times violently. Those who attack us do not distinguish between Orthodox, Luterhans, Evangelicals or Catholics; they know only that these brethren are Christians. As far as they are concerned, we are all the same. And in these attacks many of our brothers and sisters have given their lives in witness to Jesus Christ. In such places they are experiencing the ecumenism of bloodshed, the ecumenism of martyrdom. This should compel us all the more to seek paths of unity in our daily lives.

Dear brother, I will accompany you with my prayers in these days of the Meeting, asking God’s blessings up all taking part. By praying for one another, we exercise that spiritual ecumenism which accompanies all our actions. I ask you and all those taking part in the Meeting kindly to pray for me as well.

May the Lord bless all of you.

Fraternally,

s / Francis

From the Vatican, 22 January 2014 “

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