“But there’s more,” he added. “To move forward on the journey of faith, we also need ecumenical dialogue with our brothers and sisters of other confessions and Christian communities.”
“This is not something confusing or disturbing but is a gift God gives to the Christian community so it might grow as one body, the body of Christ.”
Pope Francis used the Eastern Churches as an example: “They have their own traditions, their own characteristic liturgical rites … yet they maintain the unity of the faith. They strengthen it, not divide it.”
“If we are guided by the Holy Spirit, abundance, variety, diversity, never cause conflict,” he said.
“The Holy Spirit reminds us first and foremost that we are children loved by God — everyone equal in God’s love, and everyone different,” the pope added.
He concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the Spirit helps us recognize the gift of different charisms within the Christian communities and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions within the Catholic Church.”