“Benedict will hear voices even he has never heard before, and this can be a good thing,” said Bishop Christopher Epting, the presiding bishop’s deputy for ecumenical relations. “Our church remains open to dialogue and, as always, the ultimate goal of full communion. We approach the future with hope ... and cautious optimism.”

“[He] told me, face to face, in our audience that he prayed that specific steps toward unity could be taken soon,” Epting said. “I would expect that to include, at least, the release of the Mary document in Seattle and a renewing of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission and the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission, both of which have been on hiatus lately.”

Leather-bound prayer book

Pope Benedict also greeted Bishop Pierre Whalon, bishop-in-charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe.

“Benedict looked at me warmly and asked whether I worked from the States,” Whalon wrote in an article for an Anglican website. “No, your Holiness, I live in Paris, where we have our cathedral.”

 “Oh, Paris? I did not know this,” the pope replied. “Do you have churches around Europe, too?”  “I replied that we do, including in Rome,” Whalon recounted. (The Convocation of American Churches has parishes, mission congregations and specialized ministries in five countries in continental Europe. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is in Paris.)

Whalon said he presented the pope with an edition of the German-English Selections of the Book of Common Prayer, translated and published by the Convocation of American Churches and hand-bound in leather by a Florentine craftsman.

“I showed him the bilingual text,” Whalon said. “He took it and showed it to his compatriot, Cardinal Kasper. ‘Look, Walter!’ he said in German. ‘It is in German.’ They both looked pleased. I replied by saying in German, ‘We hope this will be useful for your prayers, Holy Father.’”

Interfaith gathering

Before the greeting, Pope Benedict entered the room and read a complex statement in Italian, French and English concerning the search of unity and the need for concrete steps toward it.  The Anglican and other ecumenical guests sat in a horseshoe around the room, Orthodox to the pope’s right, Anglicans to his left, Muslim and Japanese Christian delegations in front.

Upon completing his statement, the pope moved first to an Orthodox metropolitan and his delegation, then to the Anglican side. The archbishop of Canterbury greeted the pope in German and presented him with a pectoral cross based on the ancient Canterbury Cross design.

Epting said he appreciated the signals Benedict had sent concerning ecumenical and interreligious affairs. But, he said, “actions speak louder than words, so we shall have to wait and see” in terms of new advancements.

Noted Whalon, “No man was better placed to pick up where John Paul left off. [Pope Benedict XVI] could conceivably make some significant changes: restart the ecumenical movement, for instance.”

In an address to cardinals in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel after his election, the pope said his “primary task” would be “that of working -- sparing no energies -- to reconstitute the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers.”

He said he was aware that showing good sentiments was not enough and acts “that enter souls and move consciences” were needed. Benedict said he would cultivate appropriate initiatives to promote contacts and understanding with representatives of other churches and ecclesial communities. He also pledged to “continue weaving an open and sincere dialogue” with people of other faiths or those searching for an answer to life’s fundamental questions. 

Others welcome such efforts.

“We pray to our common Lord Jesus Christ, asking that your pontificate strengthen existing instruments of working together and initiate new ways of cooperation between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches,” said the Rev. Samuel Kobia, World Council of Churches general secretary, in a message to the pontiff.

The Roman Catholic Church cooperates with the Geneva-based WCC on several programs.