The Man Behind the Effort to Reunite Christians

During a lecture in Rome on December 15, 2011, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity likened ecumenical dialogue to air travel: the Holy Spirit is the pilot, and you hope and pray that the plane lands safely.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, formerly Bishop of Basel (Switzerland), has been jetting around Europe since his appointment to his present position in the Roman Curia in July 2010. He accompanied the Holy Father during his recent pastoral visit to Germany and at the ecumenical service in Erfurt on September 23 read the Gospel passage containing Christ’s prayer, “That all may be one.” On October 3 in Heiligenkreuz Abbey near Vienna, he lectured on “The Ecumenical Dimension of the New Evangelization of Europe” at the Philosophical-Theological College named after Benedict XVI.