Vatican City, Nov 23, 2009 / 11:22 am
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, explained last week that the entrance of Anglicans into the Catholic Church is the fruit of authentic ecumenism inspired by the Second Vatican Council.
On the eve of a scheduled meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Cardinal Kasper commented on the openness of the Catholic Church to Anglicans who asked to be admitted into full communion.
Ecumenism is not an “option” that the Church can accept or reject but is rather “a sacred duty,” he said.
“Ecumenism is not an appendix of our pastoral obligations or a luxury. The principles of the Vatican II decree ‘Unitatis redintegratio,’ that is, ecumenism in truth and love, are also valid for the future. This decree is the magna carta of our ecumenical journey towards the future,” the cardinal said.