Assisi, Italy, Sep 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Full and visible unity among all of Christ’s disciples is “particularly urgent in our time”, and it calls for Christians to grow deeper in their spirituality and in their mutual love for each other, said Pope Benedict XVI Sunday in a message to a meeting of Orthodox and Catholic scholars in Assisi, Italy.
The ninth Inter-Christian Symposium opened Sept. 4 and will run until tomorrow. The theme is "The Eucharist in the eastern and western traditions, with particular reference to ecumenical dialogue."
Archbishop Yannis Spiteris OFM Cap, of Corfu, Greece, introduced the theme, and 12 scholars—six Orthodox and six Catholic—were to expound on it over the next few days.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, read the Pope’s message Sunday at the start of the four-day event.