VATICAN (CNS): Despite some new tensions, “practically the whole of Christianity is in a process of advancing beyond the controversies and competition of the past, toward greater understanding, trust and solidarity,” said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
 

GENEVA (CNS): “Our differences must not be excuses,” Pope Francis said, as he addressed a gathering of Christian leaders at headquarters of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland on June 21, noting that as Christ’s disciples, Christians can still pray together, evangelise and serve others.
 
He said that not only God, but today’s broken, divided world is begging for unity among Christians.
 

VATICAN (CNS): Many people, including many Catholics, believe the pope always ruled over the Catholic Church as an absolute monarch, appointing the world’s bishops and definitively settling issues of faith and morals. Yet that exercise of the papal office is comparatively new.
 
The pope’s supreme power, both in governance and doctrine, was defined by the First Vatican Council in 1870 and has been seen as crucial to defending the Church from hostile governments and cultural forces around the world.
 

MALMO (SE): Sharing the Eucharist in an ecumenical setting is a stage of relations that across the board has not yet been achieved, as it is generally accepted that it is a sign of full reconciliation, a destination yet to be arrived at.

Kurt Cardinal Koch, the Swiss president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told a media conference during the visit of Pope Francis to Sweden that what is important is to distinguish between Eucharistic hospitality and Eucharistic communion.