VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI in the United States of America - “For these reasons, a faithful witness to the Gospel is as urgent as ever. Christians are challenged to give a clear account of the hope that they hold.”

New York (Agenzia Fides) - On the afternoon of Friday, April 18, the Holy Father Benedict XVI met with representatives of the Jewish community at the Park East Synagogue, and later presided an ecumenical prayer service at Saint Joseph’s Church in Manhattan. “It is with joy that I come here, just a few hours before the celebration of your Pesah, to express my respect and esteem for the Jewish community in New York City,” the Pope said in his brief address given to the Jewish community, recognizing the valuable contribution they have made to the city and encouraging all “to continue building bridges of friendship with all the many different ethnic and religious groups present in your neighborhood.”
During the ecumenical encounter, Benedict XVI expressed his, “sincere appreciation for the invaluable work of all those engaged in ecumenism,” encouraging all to persevere, trusting that “the Lord will never abandon us in our quest for unity.”
The Holy Father then explained that “globalization has humanity poised between two poles”: on the one hand, the possibility of improving the sense of interconnectedness and interdependency for the good of humanity and on the other hand, we witness “some disturbing signs of fragmentation and a retreat into individualism.” “Also of grave concern is the spread of a secularist ideology that undermines or even rejects transcendent truth. The very possibility of divine revelation, and therefore of Christian faith, is often placed into question by cultural trends widely present in academia, the mass media and public debate. For these reasons, a faithful witness to the Gospel is as urgent as ever. Christians are challenged to give a clear account of the hope that they hold.”
Benedict XVI also spoke of the “splintering of Christian communities,” that ends up confusing non-Christians about the Gospel message itself: “Fundamental Christian beliefs and practices are sometimes changed within communities by so-called ‘prophetic actions’ that are based on a hermeneutic not always consonant with the datum of Scripture and Tradition. Communities consequently give up the attempt to act as a unified body, choosing instead to function according to the idea of ‘local options.’” “Faced with these difficulties, we must first recall that the unity of the Church flows from the perfect oneness of the triune God,” the Pope said, recalling that this was “the unwavering conviction of the early Christian community,” that in turn suggests, “the internal cohesion of believers was based on the sound integrity of their doctrinal confession.” “The nucleus of Paul’s preaching and that of the early Church,” the Pope said, “was none other than Jesus Christ, and ‘him crucified.’ But this proclamation had to be guaranteed by the purity of normative doctrine expressed in creedal formulae - symbola - which articulated the essence of the Christian faith and constituted the foundation for the unity of the baptized.”
The Pope continued, speaking of the power of the kerygma, asking “whether its full force has not been attenuated by a relativistic approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies, which, in alleging that science alone is ‘objective,’ relegate religion entirely to the subjective sphere of individual feeling.”
“For Christians to accept this faulty line of reasoning,” the Pope said, “would lead to the notion that there is little need to emphasize objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for one need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a community that best suits his or her individual tastes. The result is seen in the continual proliferation of communities which often eschew institutional structures and minimize the importance of doctrinal content for Christian living. Even within the ecumenical movement, Christians may be reluctant to assert the role of doctrine for fear that it would only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a clear, convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ Jesus has to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic teaching: a teaching which indeed underlies the inspired word of God and sustains the sacramental life of Christians today.”
The Holy Father concluded his address, saying that “only by ‘holding fast’ to sound teaching will we be able to respond to the challenges that confront us in an evolving world” and “only in this way will we give unambiguous testimony to the truth of the Gospel and its moral teaching. This is the message which the world is waiting to hear from us.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 21/4/2008; righe 57, parole 734)