Indeed, this is the gravest sign of the division among Christians. Indeed prayer both expresses and nourishes the hope of full communion in faith, in life and in bearing witness together to the Gospel of Jesus during the third Christian millennium. It is the true source of the quest for full unity. In this way I wished once again to present the Catholic principles of ecumenical commitment, re-examined in the light of the broad positive experience of the past 30 years of contact and dialogue. These principles continue to be a sure guide on the way which remains to be covered before we reach the blessed day of full communion.
Christians now have a greater awareness of the elements of faith they have in common.
Dialogue with the Orthodox Churches has achieved significant convergence in expressing the sacramental conception of the Church. This should now make it possible to solve the obvious anomaly of partial communion. With this in view and to facilitate ongoing dialogue, I suggested a more thorough analysis of the Bishop of Rome's primacy. We all know that this issue is a major obstacle to restoring full unity between Catholics and Orthodox. As regards the ancient Churches of the East and the Assyrian Church, I have had the joy of signing declarations of common faith with several of their Patriarchs.