Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Leaves a Legacy of Ecumenical Dialogue

Expressing the profound sadness of the World Council of Churches (WCC) following the announcement by the Holy See of the death of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca stated:

“On behalf of the World Council of Churches, I express our deepest condolences on the passing of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was the first pope to have come from a country, Germany, with a roughly equal balance between Protestants and Catholics, and one that had been at the very centre of the 16th century Reformation.”

Benedict was also the first pope to have belonged to a committee of the World Council of Churches as one of the Catholic members of its Faith and Order Commission.

Within a short time of Benedict becoming pope, longstanding grievances that had prevented meetings of the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue commission were swept aside.

By 2007, the commission had drawn up the “Ravenna Declaration” as a first step towards overcoming the thousand-year disagreement on the role of the papacy.

Intriguingly, several key individuals in this process had all been members of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission.

“He demonstrated courage as much in his leadership, his writings, and his pronouncements,” said Sauca.

Sauca added: “In the one ecumenical movement, he constantly affirmed