이상의 교황님의 교회 일치 운동에 대한 사목적 중시는 지난 8월 13일 방영된 전 세계를 향한 독일 방송국들과 합동 대담에서도 드러났었다:

교황님께선 대담에서, “우리는 특정한 테두리에 억매이지 말고 기본적인 공통적인 기독교 가르침에 기반하여 교파간 대화와 협력 관계를 유지해나가야 한다. 이러한 방향으로 나아 간다 해도 외적인 교회 일치 모습은 쉽게 이루어지지는 않을 것이다. 그러나 우리는 내적 통합의 결실을 맺을 수 있을 것이며 하느님께서 원하신다면 미래의 언젠가는 외적 통합 역시 이루어 질 것이다,”고 교회일치운동 (에큐메니칼 운동)에 지극히 낙관적인 견해를 피력하셨었다.

Benedict XVI Calls Ecumenism a Priority

Addresses Members of Council for Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI confirmed that the ecumenical movement toward full Christian unity is a priority of his ministry as Pope.

"The Second Vatican Council considered as one of its main objectives the re-establishment of full Christian unity," the Holy Father said today. "This is also my objective."

His words were heard by participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper.

Benedict XVI mentioned the first message he wrote as Pope, dated April 20, 2005, in which he assumed "as a primary commitment, to work without sparing energies for the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all the followers of Christ."

The Pope added on that occasion that he "lets himself be challenged in the first person by this request and is prepared to do all that is in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism."

In his address today, Benedict XVI acknowledged that important steps have been taken since Vatican II, "where the observer delegates of the other Churches and ecclesial communities were attentive, but in silence."

Silence transformed

"This image has made room in subsequent decades to the reality of a Church in dialogue with all Churches and ecclesial communities of East and West," the Holy Father continued.

"The silence has been transformed into a word of communion," he said. "Enormous work has been done at the universal and local level. Fraternity has been rediscovered among all Christians and has been established as the condition of dialogue, cooperation and common prayer of solidarity."

The Pope was moved in particular by "the experience of communion lived with representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial communities who came from all the continents to participate in the funeral of the unforgettable John Paul II and also in the inauguration of my pontificate. To share sorrow and joy is a visible sign of the new situation that has been created among Christians."