Pope meets with prior of Taize ecumenical community

Published: 2006-01-06

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI met Jan. 5 at the Vatican with Brother Alois Leser, prior of the ecumenical monastic community of Taize, France. In a press release, the Taize community said the meeting was a continuation of the tradition of the prior meeting each year with the pope, although it was the first time the prior was not the community's founder, Brother Roger Schutz. The 90-year-old Brother Roger was stabbed to death in August by a deranged woman. Brother Alois, a German Catholic, told Vatican Radio the meeting with the pope "was a very important moment because Brother Roger came every year for an audience with the pope, and it is important for me to continue this." While the Taize community includes members of various Christian traditions, he said, it always has had a special bond with the pope in his role as the "minister of unity for Christians."

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