In April, we mentioned a letter that Pope Benedict XVI sent to his friend, Lutheran minister and professor Dr. Peter Beyerhaus, as a response to a missive sent by the latter on the risks involved in the new Assisi gathering (October 27, 2011).
In a conference promoted by traditional-minded Catholics that took place last Saturday in Rome on the meaning of the Assisi gathering (Cardinal Burke was one of the speakers at the conference), the relevant passage of the Pope's private letter to Beyerhaus was revealed:
"I understand quite well - Benedict XVI wrote on March 4, 2011 - your concern regarding the participation at the Assisi meeting. However, this commemoration would have to have been celebrated in some way and, all things considered, it seemed to me that the best thing would be for me to personally go there being thus able to determine the direction of it all. I will nevertheless do everything in order that a syncretistic or relativistic interpretation of the event will be impossible and so that what will remain is that I will always believe and confess that which I had called to the attention of the Church with [the Declaration] 'Dominus Iesus'."
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The Declaration "Dominus Iesus" brings good memories to many Catholics, including many converts. One hopes that its presence will be felt in Assisi, which on these days celebrates the transito of its greatest son.
