” “"I am well aware that many Christians in this country, and not only here, expect further positive steps towards reconciliation. I expect them too". This was said this afternoon, which has been full of meetings, by Benedict XVI, as he met about 30 delegates from different Christian confessions of Germany at the archbishop’s palace. "It is the Commandment of the Lord continued the Pope as well as the imperative of this age, that we should continue negotiations keenly at all levels of the Church’s life. Of course, this must be done with sincerity and realism, patience and perseverance, in faithfulness to what is dictated by conscience. There can be no talks to the detriment of the truth; talks must be carried out in charity and truth". Amidst the issues to be put on the agenda of the Ecumenical Council, Benedict XVI spoke of the "big ethic issues raised by our age", defining them as an "urgent priority". "Due to contradictions in the field highlighted the Pope the evangelical testimony and the ethic direction for which the faithful are responsible lose their strength and sometime become vague, and so we neglect our duty of giving our time the necessary testimony. Our divisions clash with God’s will and make us unreliable towards man". (to be continued)
