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Pope sends olive branch to French Protestants
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Reuters
Sunday, May 8, 2005; 4:08 AM
PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Benedict extended an olive branch to some of his harshest critics at the weekend, sending a cordial message to a French Protestant church and saying he wanted to work toward the unity of all Christians.
The message to a synod of the Reformed Church of France in the southern city of Aix-en-Province was the first papal note ever sent to the French church’s annual assembly and met with surprise and approval, according to local media reports.
The Protestant Federation of France – of which the Reformed Church is the largest member – stood out among the well-wishers after Benedict’s election on April 19 by bluntly expressing its concern about him and demanding "a sign of ecumenical openness."It recalled he had dismissed Protestant denominations as “not proper churches” in an official statement in 2000 when he was Vatican doctrinal overseer Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The Vatican message to the synod said the German-born Pope “cordially salutes all participants of the Reformed Church of France and assures them of his prayers.”
Since becoming Pope, Benedict has made frequent statements supporting inter-religious cooperation, a shift of emphasis from his earlier drive to assert a superiority of Catholicism.
“This is an important signal,” Pastor Marcel Manoel, head of France’s largest Protestant church, told Europe 1 radio. “Being German, he understands Protestant churches well.”
BROTHER JOINED IN PRAYER
The Reformed Church belongs to the Calvinist tradition of Protestantism, traditionally critical of the papacy, and has 300,000 members. Protestants make up about 2 percent of the population in historically Catholic France.
Manoel noted Benedict referred to his denomination as a church rather than an “ecclesiastical community,” a phrase he had earlier used that hinted it was inferior to Catholicism.
“We appreciate that this message comes from someone who presents himself as a brother and joins us in prayer,” he said, according to the Paris daily Le Monde.
Before receiving the message, which was sent by Vatican Deputy Secretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Manoel told his church he feared the secret conclave that elected Benedict, 78, had succumbed to a temptation to avoid change.
This amounted to “resistance by some against important advances in the life of the Roman Catholic Church that many of its theologians and pastors have nonetheless demanded.”
Benedict offended Protestants in 2000 with a document entitled Dominus Iesus (Lord Jesus) which argued they did not have churches in the proper sense because they broke from Rome.
This set back efforts at the ecumenical dialogue the Vatican has fostered since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965.
The French Protestant Federation’s blunt statement at his election branded the new Pope as “the man of Dominus Iesus and non-recognition of other churches.”
In his first address as Pope, Benedict said he was “willing to do everything in my power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism … and am fully determined to accept every initiative that seems opportune to promote contact and understanding.”
Peace, BRING IT ON BABY!
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Reuters
Sunday, May 8, 2005; 4:08 AM
PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Benedict extended an olive branch to some of his harshest critics at the weekend, sending a cordial message to a French Protestant church and saying he wanted to work toward the unity of all Christians.
The message to a synod of the Reformed Church of France in the southern city of Aix-en-Province was the first papal note ever sent to the French church’s annual assembly and met with surprise and approval, according to local media reports.
The Protestant Federation of France – of which the Reformed Church is the largest member – stood out among the well-wishers after Benedict’s election on April 19 by bluntly expressing its concern about him and demanding "a sign of ecumenical openness."It recalled he had dismissed Protestant denominations as “not proper churches” in an official statement in 2000 when he was Vatican doctrinal overseer Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The Vatican message to the synod said the German-born Pope “cordially salutes all participants of the Reformed Church of France and assures them of his prayers.”
Since becoming Pope, Benedict has made frequent statements supporting inter-religious cooperation, a shift of emphasis from his earlier drive to assert a superiority of Catholicism.
“This is an important signal,” Pastor Marcel Manoel, head of France’s largest Protestant church, told Europe 1 radio. “Being German, he understands Protestant churches well.”
BROTHER JOINED IN PRAYER
The Reformed Church belongs to the Calvinist tradition of Protestantism, traditionally critical of the papacy, and has 300,000 members. Protestants make up about 2 percent of the population in historically Catholic France.
Manoel noted Benedict referred to his denomination as a church rather than an “ecclesiastical community,” a phrase he had earlier used that hinted it was inferior to Catholicism.
“We appreciate that this message comes from someone who presents himself as a brother and joins us in prayer,” he said, according to the Paris daily Le Monde.
Before receiving the message, which was sent by Vatican Deputy Secretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Manoel told his church he feared the secret conclave that elected Benedict, 78, had succumbed to a temptation to avoid change.
This amounted to “resistance by some against important advances in the life of the Roman Catholic Church that many of its theologians and pastors have nonetheless demanded.”
Benedict offended Protestants in 2000 with a document entitled Dominus Iesus (Lord Jesus) which argued they did not have churches in the proper sense because they broke from Rome.
This set back efforts at the ecumenical dialogue the Vatican has fostered since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965.
The French Protestant Federation’s blunt statement at his election branded the new Pope as “the man of Dominus Iesus and non-recognition of other churches.”
In his first address as Pope, Benedict said he was “willing to do everything in my power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism … and am fully determined to accept every initiative that seems opportune to promote contact and understanding.”
Peace, BRING IT ON BABY!
Okay Malachy prophecys’ where are you guys
Gilliam:nope: What say you?:ehh:
There is really only one Church, his job is to try to unify it without yielding on any dogma.
Gilliam at least now you noticed it
