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SYDNEY: Pope Benedict XVI warned Christian leaders Friday that the
push to unite Christian churches was at a “critical juncture,”
as Anglicans met to avert a schism over the ordination of women and
gays.
The Pontiff, leading hundreds of thousands of
Catholics in World Youth Day celebrations in Australia, also called
on people of all religions to unite against “sinister and
indiscriminate forms of violence.”
At a meeting with around 50 Christian leaders,
including those from the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and Uniting
churches, the Pontiff called on them to fight for unity within the
Christian faith.
“I think you would agree that the ecumenical
movement has reached a critical juncture,” the leader of the
world’s 1.1 billion Catholics told a meeting in Sydney’s Saint
Mary’s Cathedral.
“We must guard against any temptation to view
doctrine as divisive and hence an impediment to the seemingly more
pressing and immediate task of improving the world in which we
live.”
The Pope did not elaborate on what he saw as the
critical juncture in the search for greater unity.
But his comments came as Anglican bishops from
around the world gathered at Canterbury in England, for a
once-a-decade conference amid splits between liberal and
conservative elements of the church.
Around 650 bishops were to attend the 20-day
conference, with the issue of gays and women in the church expected
to dominate.
About a quarter of the church’s
bishops—including most from Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and
Uganda—are staying away, a week after the Church of England
approved the ordination of women bishops.
The Pope later told leaders from the Muslim,
Jewish and other faiths that religions had a special role in
maintaining peace and uniting peoples.
“A harmonious relationship between religion
and public life is all the more important at a time when some people
have come to consider religion as a cause of division rather than a
force for unity,” he said.
“In a world threatened by sinister and
indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious
people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through
peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity.”
After a series of private meetings Friday, the
Pope took part at the start of a “stations of the cross”
re-enactment of the last days of Jesus Christ’s life.
The re-enactment, held at some of Sydney’s
most famous sites including the Opera House, had been expected to
draw between 350,000 and 450,000 spectators, organizers said.
Police moved seven activists from Broken Rites,
a support group for victims of abuse by Catholic clergy, from
outside St Mary’s Cathedral where the Pope was to pray at the
start of the re-enactment.
“It’s really shameful of the church to be
doing this, to be moving people on. They’re just stopping people
from being heard,” said protester John Ellis.
Thousands of spectators gathered at each of the
seven sites as the actors made their way around the 13 stations in
bright sunshine in the heart of Sydney.
As night fell on the city, the crucifixion of
Jesus was solemnly re-enacted at the former wharves where a day
earlier the 81-year-old Pontiff received a rapturous welcome from
some 200,000 young Catholic pilgrims.
The World Youth Day celebrations, aimed at
strengthening the faith of young Catholics, ends on Sunday with a
papal mass, which organizers hope will attract 500,000 people.
-- AFP
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