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Riccardi said at the press conference that Dominus Iesus had been on everyone's lips. "But we are not firemen," he said, commenting on the role of the meeting. He downplayed the Vatican document's damage to ecumenism and praised the "sincere climate" of the Lisbon meeting. "We feel a unity rooted in different identities, but with a common destiny," he added.

Despite Dominus Iesus, Pope John Paul II, in a message read to the Lisbon meeting by the Vatican's chief ecumenical officer, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, stated that his church's commitment to Christian unity remained a priority. The Pope also welcomed progress in the Catholic Church's encounters with Judaism, Islam and other faiths. "At the dawn of the new millennium we must not slow our pace," the Pope said. "On the contrary, it is necessary to hasten even more on such a promising journey."

The meeting closed with signing by the different religious leaders of "the Lisbon Appeal" which completely rejected the notion of "religious war."

"We strongly affirm ... that religions never justify hatred and violence," they said. "Peace is an indivisible value. It comes from God and it belongs to the whole humanity. Speaking about religious war is an absurdity, and it contradicts the most beautiful name of God, which is Peace."

The appeal also emphasized the importance of dialogue as the way to overcome mistrust and conflict. "Dialogue does not weaken the identity of anybody, but rather provokes every man and woman to acknowledge the best part of the other and to express the best of himself or herself. Nothing is lost with dialogue. Everything is possible through dialogue."

Copyright © 2000 ENI

Other media coverage of Oceans of Peace includes:

Vatican seeks to build religious bridges—CNN (Sept. 25, 2000)

Vatican Looks To Mend Religion Ties—Associated Press (Sept. 24, 2000)

Previous Christianity Today articles about Dominus Iesus include:

Poland's Catholic Bishops Reject Criticism of Dominus Iesus | Ratzinger's declaration that Protestant denominations are not proper churches is making waves in pope's birthplace. (Sept. 20, 2000)

Dominus Iesus a 'Public Relations Disaster' for Ecumenism, Say Critics | Vatican's statement reasserting itself as the one true church lamented inside and outside Catholicism. (Sept. 13, 2000)

Not All in the Family | Vatican official proclaims Protestant churches not "sister churches" to the Roman Catholic faith. (Sept. 6, 2000)

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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October (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44