Admitting past mistakes is key to Christian unity, pope says

Published: 2006-01-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Christian churches and communities are willing to admit their members may have offended or misrepresented the teachings of others, they make important contributions to Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI said. Meeting Jan. 7 with the leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Pope Benedict said that in 2000 Pope John Paul II "gave a powerful impulse to this endeavor in the Catholic Church" when he publicly asked for forgiveness on behalf of Catholics. "I am pleased to learn that several of the Reformed churches which are members of the World Alliance have undertaken similar initiatives," he said. The pope was referring to decisions by the Presbyterian Church USA, the Christian Reformed Church in North America and others to declare that official statements about Catholicism made by their leaders in the 16th century do not reflect their current understandings of Catholic Church teaching.

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