May 29, 2005

Ending The Schism Between East And West

Pope Benedict XVI, on his first trip away from Rome, has spoken about his desire to work for reconciliation between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

In his homily at a Mass that closed a national religious conference, Benedict referred to Bari as a "land of meeting and dialogue" with the Orthodox Church.

"I want to repeat my willingness to make it a fundamental commitment to work, with all my energy, toward reconstituting the full and visible unity of Christ's followers," he said to applause from the estimated 200,000 people at the Mass.

Benedict told worshippers words were not enough, and that even ordinary Catholics needed to make concrete gestures to reach out to Orthodox Christians.

"I also ask all of you to decisively take the path of spiritual ecumenism, which in prayer will open the door to the Holy Spirit who alone can create unity," he said.

There is much to work on for the split to heal, but there is significantly more in common between the two branches of Christianity than between the two ancient branches and Protestantism. May we see the breach healed in our lifetimes.

Posted by: Greg at 08:57 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Marx was absolutely correct, "Religion is the opiate of the masses", my only disagreement is that I think he used one too many of the letter "m".

Posted by: at Sun May 29 11:07:25 2005 (aHbua)

2 A pity you lack the courage to leave any information about who you are -- strikes me as the sign of a coward.

And since you use the discreditted theories of Marx to support your position, I don't see how you can really expect to be taken seriously.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sun May 29 11:21:31 2005 (/M+uy)

3 Marx was spot-on in his assessment of peoples character, it is his economic theories that are discredited. Or are you really so stupid as to not be able to see the difference?. As to my information, I am rather sure your "readership" (all 8 of them) could easily recognize the style and tone of my comments, which only further proves the aforementioned educational deficiencies.

Posted by: at Sun May 29 18:50:48 2005 (aHbua)

4 How dare you twist the article around by not quoting every letter of it. Oh well, I guess it's just another case of an attack by The Dishonest And Intellectually Deficient Right.

Posted by: at Sun May 29 23:09:50 2005 (V5cZa)

5 Actually -- no he wasn't correct in his theories about people, since they were part and parcel of his economic theories.

But if you want to continue to take the proponent of the social, political, and economic equivalent of phrenology as your guide to life, go for it. Just remember that his ideas are the foundation for a system that was responsible for more deaths during the 20th century than any other.

And why don't you show a little integrity by identifying yourself?

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon May 30 01:55:04 2005 (XJvMc)

6 Religion is the glue that binds many people to the light. The religious define that light as God, or Allah, or Gaea, or some other deity.

The truly good follow the light whether they believe there is a God or do not. Religion is not evil. Christianity is not evil in and of itself, and neither is Islam.

The evil lies with a certain select number of the practitioners. Does being a Muslim make someone evil? No. Does being Christian make someone evil? No.

Killing, causing suffering, and the theft of the property of another, these things are evil, regardless of whether the person who does them professes a religion or does not.

Truth, veracity, loyalty, courage, strength: These are not religious qualities. They are simply the lighter side of the human spirit. Whatever a person needs to do to attain those ideals they should, whether it means believing in God(s) or not.

And because someone chooses to believe in a God or Gods to attain that goal does not make them less. By the same token, we are not less who choose to do good and not subscribe to a religious belief.

~A!

Posted by: ~A! at Mon May 30 15:58:16 2005 (zjq8s)

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