Pope Benedict today stressed his commitment to bringing Christian churches closer together during a meeting with a delegation of Presbyterian and Congregational church leaders at the Vatican.
The pontiff said he intended to pursue the strategy of his predecessor, John Paul, who stipulated that purification of memory and inner conversion were the prerequisites for all ecumenical progress.
He also thanked the alliance representing 75 million followers and 215 churches in more than 100 countries for its presence at John Paul II's funeral on 8 April last year and his own election as pope 11 days later.
