The 11th Congress of the World Council of Churches is currently being held in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Pope sent a letter to the Congress, urging everyone to increase brotherly communion in the name of Christ, and to make the world believe that the Church is the Church that is going out, and this place is full of divisions and wars era, to give comfort to the world.
(Vatican News Network)The 11th Congress of the World Council of Churches will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany, from August 31 to September 8. Pope Francis greets the Congress with a letter on this occasion. His letter in Spanish was read at the congress by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Minister of the Holy See for the Promotion of Christian Unity. In the letter, the Pope wishes the congress to “deepen the communion among the various Christian churches and ecumenical organizations present”.
In a context where the world, even Christians, is suffering from injustice, conflict and division, the Pope pointed out that the theme of this Congress, “The love of Christ moves the world towards reconciliation and unity”, is an urgent invitation , which calls on all Christians to work together to bring “the Christian Church, religion, culture, people, nation and the entire human family closer and united, and to promote reconciliation throughout the world”.
The Pope said, “Let us do this with the impetus of the Gospel”, “The Lord is our reconciliation”, and as Christians our job is to accomplish this reconciliation through the visible unity of the Church. The Pope added that we will be convincing only if “we are loyal to the Lord”, rather than conforming the Gospel message to worldly ways of thinking. The Pope stressed that the growth of the Christian community “is not by persuading people to convert, but by its attractiveness”.
However, what is needed for preaching repair and reconciliation is that we have already reconciled, and this conference has reflected this. To this end, in his letter, the Pope called on the participants to make greater efforts and closer cooperation in order to achieve “a more complete and visible communion”: the mission of the Church is convincing, and it is precisely from the Christian practice that and start. Ecumenical Movement and Mission are complementary and intertwined.
Therefore, in order for the preaching of the Gospel to be convincing, Christians need greater communion; in order to give hope and comfort to the world, greater unity is needed. Finally, the Pope asked the Holy Spirit to give strength and illumination so that this assembly might bring the world closer to reconciliation and unity.
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