Pope gives thanks for ecumenical progress, asks prayers for unity

Published: 2003-11-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II gave thanks for the ecumenical progress made over the course of his 25-year pontificate and asked Catholics to increase their prayers for Christian unity at a time of new problems among Christians. "The ecumenical path is not an easy path," he said in a Nov. 3 message to members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. "Little by little as we progress, the obstacles are easier to identify and the difficulties are more clearly seen," he told council members holding their plenary meeting at the Vatican Nov. 3-8. The council meeting was to focus on ways to develop a "spirituality of ecumenism," a spirituality which the pope said was necessary especially during this "intermediate period" of ecumenism when so much progress has been made, but new obstacles seem to have stalled the process.

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