{"id":308036,"date":"2021-09-24T16:30:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T14:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/highlight-of-an-ecumenical-journey\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T20:42:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:42:42","slug":"highlight-of-an-ecumenical-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/highlight-of-an-ecumenical-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlight of an ecumenical journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second day of a meeting of bishops from various churches, friends of the Focolare, under the banner of unity <\/em> \"\"The darkness of the catacombs was brightened by the candlelight. People from various churches appeared in the corridors, walking as the words of a prayer of the first Christians resounded. They gathered around the altar of the small chapel, where the united community shared bread. Holding hands, with a spontaneous prayer they asked for the gift of unity. It was a foretaste of the \u2018pact of mutual love\u2019 that is renewed at every meeting of bishops who are friends of the Focolare. \u201cThe covenant strengthens our unity, our covenant, and urges us to maintain it in our relationships with brothers and sisters, in our countries or wherever we are,\u201d said Bishop Nelson Leite of the Methodist Church of Brazil. \u201cThe covenant has changed my life. It has motivated me and led me to accept other people, to live with them, to learn to listen to them and to be able to establish a dialogue, even if we are different.\u201d It was a sacred and moving moment, symbolically enclosed, as if in a chapel. The 170 bishops of various Christian churches participating in the \u201cDare to be one\u201d conference are typically scattered throughout the world, yet here there were no more distances or electronic media, which allowed the connections. Those same catacomb candles gave light to their new commitment of unity. \u201cWe want the New Commandment of Jesus to be the foundation of our relationships \u2013 \u2018that loving one another\u2019, we want to be the foundation of our fraternal relationships,\u201d said Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick (Ireland), and one of the moderators of the meeting. With the awareness that, if it is put into practice, Jesus can fulfil his promise, \u201cWhere two or more are united in my name, there am I present in the midst of them\u201d (Mt 18:20). \u201cWe long for Jesus to be able to give us this gift,\u201d Leahy said, \u201cso we would like to promise him that we want to continue to live in love with one another, to love each other’s diocese and community as I love my own, to love each other’s Church as I love my own.\u201d \"\"If there is mutual love among Christians, it is the strongest and most credible witness to the world around us. Jes\u00fas Mor\u00e1n, co-president of the Focolare Movement, said: \u201cYes, our unity, the unity of all Christians, could be a decisive contribution to the transformation of the world. This is an ethical imperative that cannot be postponed.\u201d \"\"Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, concluded the two days by expressing the desire of many participants to keep moving forward \u2013 \u201cto create a great network that will help us connect together, living cells united in the name of Jesus. \u201cWho knows how many initiatives could emerge to renew the life of our churches in the one Church of Christ!\u201d She invited everyone to join together to ask God the Father to enlighten the way forward by reciting the Lord\u2019s Prayer. The words of the prayer taught by Jesus harmonised together in so many languages, like a symphony rising to heaven that floods the hearts and minds of everyone, sealing the pact of unity just made. <\/p>\n

Carlos Mana<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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