In Umbris Sancti Petri

Today the Holy Father met with the college of Cardinals for prayer and reflection at 9:30 with the recitation of Mid-Morning Prayer. I had the privilege of eating lunch today with His Eminence Cardinal Egan and he said the meetings were going well. The theme of the reflections was "Ecumenical dialogue with respect to the light of prayer and the command of the Lord: Ut Unum Sint: That they may be one."

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Union of Christians, traced the theme on ecumenical relations in the following four areas:

1. The relationship with the ancient oriental Churches and the Orthodox Churches.

2. The relationship with the ecclesial Communities born from the Reformation of the 16th century.

3. The relationships with the charismatic and pentecostal movements which developed last century.

Then there was a discussion with an open exchange of experiences and opinions, which respected the variety of the situations. Seventeen cardinals intervened, touching on diverse problems from the common ecumenical engagement among Christians in the social fields (Cardinal McCarrick spoke on this matter) to the defense of moral values in modern society. The theme of "purification of memory", so dear to John Paul II, was spoken of as a means of attentively communicating with other Christians with respect to their sensibilities. Finally there was a discussion on the relationship between Catholics and Jewish people as well as those of other religions.