Vatican City, May 25, 2020 / 04:48 am
Pope Francis Monday remembered Ut unum sint, St. Pope John Paul II's encyclical on ecumenism, on the 25th anniversary of its publication.
Ut unum sint "confirmed 'irrevocably' the ecumenical commitment of the Catholic Church," the pope said May 25.
In a letter to Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Francis said St. John Paul II "desired that the Church, on her journey towards the third millennium, should be ever mindful of the heartfelt prayer of her Teacher and Lord 'that all may be one.'"
The encyclical Ut unum sint was published on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, May 25, 1995, "placing it under the sign of the Holy Spirit, the creator of unity in diversity," Pope Francis noted.