Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale634

its Christian roots, despite a deep and widespread hunger for spiritual nour-

ishment. On the other hand, the increasingly multicultural dimension of

society, particularly marked in this country, brings with it the opportunity

to encounter other religions. For us Christians this opens up the possibility of

exploring, together with members of other religious traditions, ways of bear-

ing witness to the transcendent dimension of the human person and the

universal call to holiness, leading to the practice of virtue in our personal

and social lives. Ecumenical cooperation in this task remains essential, and

will surely bear fruit in promoting peace and harmony in a world that so

often seems at risk of fragmentation.

At the same time, we Christians must never hesitate to proclaim our faith

in the uniqueness of the salvation won for us by Christ, and to explore

together a deeper understanding of the means he has placed at our disposal

for attaining that salvation. God "wants all to be saved, and to come to the

knowledge of the truth",1 and that truth is nothing other than Jesus Christ,

eternal Son of the Father, who has reconciled all things in himself by the

power of his Cross. In fidelity to the Lord's will, as expressed in that passage

from Saint Paul's First Letter to Timothy, we recognize that the Church is

called to be inclusive, yet never at the expense of Christian truth. Herein

lies the dilemma facing all who are genuinely committed to the ecumenical

journey.

In the figure of John Henry Newman, who is to be beatified on Sunday,

we celebrate a churchman whose ecclesial vision was nurtured by his Angli-

can background and matured during his many years of ordained ministry in

the Church of England. He can teach us the virtues that ecumenism de-

mands: on the one hand, he was moved to follow his conscience, even at

great personal cost; and on the other hand, the warmth of his continued

friendship with his former colleagues, led him to explore with them, in a

truly eirenical spirit, the questions on which they differed, driven by a deep

longing for unity in faith. Your Grace, in that same spirit of friendship, let us

renew our determination to pursue the goal of unity in faith, hope, and love,

in accordance with the will of our one Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

With these sentiments, I take my leave of you. May the grace of the Lord

Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with

you all.2

1 1 Tim 2:4. 2 2 Cor 13:13.