The pope has defended his widely ignored initiative to bring disaffected Anglicans into the Catholic Church in a way that provides insight into his definition of ecumenism.
The Vatican’s invitation ”is not in any way contrary to the ecumenical movement but shows, instead, its ultimate aim which consists of reaching full and visible communion of the Lord’s disciples,” Benedict told the members of the congregation, which he headed for a quarter century before becoming pope.
Here, according to Google translator is what the pope said: “I would also like to congratulate the commitment to full integration of faith groups and individuals already belonging Anglicanism in the life of the Catholic Church, as established in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. Faithful adherence to the truth of these groups received from Christ and proposed by the Magisterium of the Church is not in any way contrary to the ecumenical movement, but it shows, however, his ultimate goal is to achieve full and visible communion of the disciples of the Lord.”