“Your invitation means a lot to us” – kath.ch
The Episcopal Vicar Pascal Desthieux conducted the first Catholic mass in the Geneva Cathedral since the Reformation. He apologized on behalf of the Geneva Catholics for the failures in the matter of Christian unity.
Bernard Litzler, cath.ch / Adaptation: Regula Pfeifer
During the service on Saturday evening, Pascal Desthieux said that the invitation from the Protestant community deeply moved Geneva’s Catholics. “It’s great that the cathedral, the mother church of our canton, can become a little more the church of all Christians this evening.” He added with humor: “If I were in your place, I would do exactly the same.”
“Your invitation means a lot to us,” Desthieux said. “She aroused a unique enthusiasm.” He thanked “for the trust you give us, for inviting us to you.”
Excuse me
The Episcopal Vicar also asked for an apology for the “mistakes against unity”, the mockery, caricature or suspicion towards the Reformed community. “We have not merged our two churches,” recalled the episcopal vicar in his sermon. He underlined how much the situation had evolved since that time “when the two churches viewed each other with suspicion.”
He also mentioned the will to “enrich each other with our differences” when ecumenical dialogue sometimes shines. As evidence, he cited the collaboration of the Reformed, Roman Catholic, and Old Catholic churches in pastoral ministries, ecumenical celebrations, and Lent discourses.
Ecumenism in the most intimate
Father Pascal Desthieux also congratulated those “who live ecumenism in the most intimate things”, the mixed-denominational couples, of whom there are many prayers in the canton of Geneva. Referring to the Gospel of the Day about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert, Desthieux called for “resisting the divisive forces in our lives – both among us and among us Christians”.
And before the concluding blessing, the priest said: The service will “write itself in the history books of ecumenism. And you will be able to say: We were there! »
© Catholic Media Center, 03/06/2022
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