Pope Francis has said
he is visiting mostly Protestant and deeply secular Sweden next
week to take a step forward in Christian unity.
"My hope and expectation is that of coming closer to my
brothers and sisters," the pope told Civiltà Cattolica ahead of
his two-day visit starting Monday as part of the events for the
500th anniversary of the Reformation.
"Closeness does all of us good. Distance, on the other
hand, makes us bitter.
"When we are distant, we close within ourselves and we
become individual entities, incapable of encountering each
other.
"We are held back by fears. We need to learn to transcend
ourselves to encounter others.
"If we do not do this, we Christians, too, become sick
because of our divisions. My expectation is that of being able
to take a step of closeness".
When asked by the Italian Jesuit journal for final
reflections on the trip he replied: "what comes spontaneously
for me to add now is simply: go, walk together.
"Don't remain closed in rigid perspectives, because in
these there is no possibility of reform".
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