VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a message directed to the heads of Christian communities in the Holy Land, Pope John Paul II has asked for "a new vigor" in efforts to promote Christian unity.
On December 4, 1999, the heads of the different Christian churches of the Holy Land-- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox-- gathered in Bethlehem for a ceremony marking the opening of the Jubilee celebrations in that town. Saying that he is "filled with joy" by that celebration, the Holy Father exhorted the participants to continue working together to realize the unity for which Jesus prayed.
The Christian leaders, for their part, issued a statement in which they acknowledged their past failure to preserve unity among the faithful. "We have become strangers to another, and sometimes rivals," they acknowledged. But they pledged new efforts to regain full unity of faith and spirit.
Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update