(news from www.wyd2008.org)
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI continued his packed schedule of meetings and events on day six of his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08).
The Holy Father started his day in the usual WYD08 way - with morning prayers and his daily inspirational text message: “The Spirit impels us 4ward 2wards others; the fire of his love makes us missionaries of God’s charity. C U tomorrow nite – BXVI”
After 500,000 people turned out to welcome him to Sydney yesterday, an expected international TV audience of 500 million has seen the powerful re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross - the last moments of Jesus’ life.
This morning, the Holy Father held private meetings with the Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir; the Premier of NSW Morris Iemma; and the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore and their families.
He then prayed with other Christian leaders in the Crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral where he thanked Bishop Robert Forsythe from the Anglican Church and Cardinal Pell after they both gave addresses.
He also extended his warm wishes to Cardinal Edward Cassidy, former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who could not attend the event due to ill-health.
His Holiness applauded the ecumenical effort of Australians: “Australians cherish cordial and frank discussion. This has served the ecumenical movement well. An example would be the Covenant signed in 2004 by the members of the National Council of Churches in Australia.”
But he also spoke of the importance of moving forward: “Dear friends in Christ, I think you would agree that the ecumenical movement has reached a critical juncture. To move forward, we must continually ask God to renew our minds with the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through the scriptures and guides us into all truth.
“We must guard against any temptation to view doctrine as divisive and hence an impediment to the seemingly more pressing and immediate task of improving the world in which we live. In fact, the history of the Church demonstrates that praxis is not only inseparable from, but actually flows out of, didache or teaching.”
Following this prayer, he met representatives of other faith traditions in St Mary’s Cathedral Chapter House. Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence from the Great Synagogue in Sydney and Sheik Shady Alsuleiman from the National Council of Imams both gave addresses.
In his role as spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict thanked the 40 people in attendance for their work in bringing peace and faith to the community.
“My dear friends, I have come to Australia as an ambassador of peace. For this reason, I feel blessed to meet you who, likewise, share this yearning and the desire to help the world attain it. Our quest for peace goes hand in hand with our search for meaning, for it is in discovering the truth that we find the sure road to peace. Our effort to bring about reconciliation between peoples springs from, and is directed to, that truth which gives purpose to life. Religion offers peace, but more importantly, it arouses within the human spirit a thirst for truth and a hunger for virtue.”
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