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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.

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VATICAN CITY, JAN 18, 2007 (VIS) - During a meeting due to be held in the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on January 23, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will hold a briefing for journalists on the current state of ecumenism, on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Also participating in the event will be Bishop Brian Farrell and Msgr, Eleuterio F. Fortino, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

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VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2007 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins tomorrow, was the focus of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of more than 6,000 people.

"Unity," said the Pope, "is a gift from God and the fruit of the action of His Spirit. For this reason it is important to pray. The closer we draw to Christ, converting ourselves to His love, the closer we also draw to one another."

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Handbook Offers Guidelines for the "Soul" of Fostering Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2007 (Zenit.org) - At the heart of the whole ecumenical movement is spiritual ecumenism, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, Cardinal Walter Kasper presents guidelines grounded in documents from the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II's "Ut Unum Sint" and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Spiritual ecumenism is the "soul of the whole ecumenical movement," Cardinal Kasper explains in the handbook, published recently by New City Press.

He encourages readers to contemplate Jesus who, during the Last Supper, prayed "that they may all be one."

Desire and prayer

The introduction of the volume explains: "The quest for Christian unity is, above all, a desire that must be kept alive and a prayer that must be nourished."

The prelate wrote the book, called for by his council's 2003 plenary assembly, with some of his collaborators. He especially acknowledges the help of Monsignors Johan Bonny and Donald Bolen.

The cardinal points out that the text results from personal experiences and cooperation with a group already practicing spiritual ecumenism.

Cardinal Kasper says he hopes "it will contribute to unite us more with our brothers and sisters, in a common prayer around Christ, our only Lord."

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ANKAWA, Iraq, JAN. 16, 2007 (Zenit.org) - Classes have resumed at Iraq's only faculty of Christian theology as well as at a seminary that moved out of Baghdad for security reasons.

Chaldean Bishop Rabban al-Qas told AsiaNews that the doors of Babel College and St. Peter's Major Seminary reopened on Thursday, after being closed for months.

Abductions, assaults and threats to the Christian community in the capital convinced local Church leaders first to shut down both the college and seminary, and then to move them.

The neighborhood of Dora, where the headquarters of both institutions were first located, has become one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad.

The reopening of the faculty of theology was marked by a Mass celebrated by Monsignor Jacques Isaac, rector of Babel College, in the Chaldean Church of Mar Eliya.

Bishop Andraos Abouna, vicar patriarch representing Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, and Sarkis Aghajan, a Christian and finance minister in Kurdistan's regional government, were also present.

About 25 seminarians are registered in Babel College, but there are many other students studying theology and philosophy.

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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we gaze upon the icon of the most Holy Mother of God and our Savior, we are reminded of the truths in which our faith as Orthodox Christians is rooted: the One Who is Life Itself emptied Himself and took on our human nature, that we might become partakers of His divine nature.

The Holy Virgin gave birth in time and space to the eternal God, Who came into the world to free us from sin, death, and corruption. He took on our human nature to transform us, to reconcile us to the Father, and to restore in us all that had been lost through the devil’s deceit. All creation rejoiced, as we sing during the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, as God “made her body into a throne, and her womb more spacious than the heavens.”

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January 11, 2007

English Translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas 

On the eve of the Nativity and on Nativity night, Beijing's Orthodox believers assembled for solemn divine services in "the Red Fangzi" - the oldest building (on the grounds) of the Embassy of the Russian Federation. Over eighty people came to pray on the radiant feast of Christ's Nativity — employees of Embassy of the Russian Federation with their families, compatriots living in Beijing, as well as Orthodox Christians from Ukraine, Belarus, the USA, France, Greece, Serbia and Macedonia. About half of the congregants went to confession and received communion. The Nativity message of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia was read. The divine services in Beijing's Dormition Orthodox community were served by Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev. On the evening of the Feast all believers were invited to share a common meal. Christmas gifts which were given to all visitors of the Fangzi during the meal brought great joy.

  1. Papal Message to Catholics in Mideast
  2. Christmas Message of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia
  3. Christian College and a Seminary Leave Baghdad
  4. Results of Russian Poll on Attitudes Toward Religion Viewed

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