October 27, 2008
On October 6, 2008, Zenit, a Vatican news agency, reported that Benedict XVI sent a personal message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II saying that modern times call for a hastening of the journey toward Christian unity. “Our times, marked so often by conflict and grief,” said the Pope through his emissary, “make it even more necessary to hasten the journey toward the full unity of all the disciples of Christ, so that the joyous message of salvation may be spread to all humanity.”
Notice that the Pope was not just speaking of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is referring to all churches in full unity with Rome.“On the path to unity,” said bishop Vincenzo Paglia of Terni, president of the Italian bishops’ ecumenism commission, “meetings between experts are no longer sufficient. Rather, ecumenism is a coming together of the Churches.”
Source: http://www.ktfministry.org/news/310/benedict-says-he-wants-unity-faster
