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08302 April 18, 2008
Ecumenical greetings
Kirkpatrick included in delegation welcoming Pope Benedict
by Toya Richards Hill Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - An ecumenical delegation including the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, will greet Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, April 18, as part of the pontiff's visit to the United States.
Kirkpatrick will be among church leaders and member communions of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) as they welcome the Roman Catholic leader, who is making his first official visit April 15-20 to the U.S. since becoming Pope in 2005.
The group, including NCC President Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, will take part in an ecumenical prayer service with the Pope at St. Joseph's Church in New York City, followed by dinner.
Kirkpatrick said he is especially pleased that the Pope is meeting with a diverse group of interfaith and ecumenical leaders. "That type of hospitality is a good learning out of this experience," he said.
Representatives from the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, the National Baptist Convention USA, the Armenian Church of America and the National Association of Evangelicals all are included among those taking part in the Friday gathering.
Kirkpatrick said he is "grateful" that the Catholic Church and the Reformed churches have come together on mutual recognition of baptism, "recognizing one another as parts of the body of Christ."
He also said he is pleased at the Pope's support for the welcoming of immigrants and his work around peace. "I think those are very important pieces on the agenda."
At the same time, however, Kirkpatrick said there still are concerns that should be shared with the Pope.
"I would encourage the Pope to try to find a way to more fully claim the full integrity of other Christian communities," said Kirkpatrick, who also serves as president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
In 2007 Pope Benedict approved a document saying the Roman Catholic Church provided the only true path to salvation, and that Protestants and other Christian communities can not be called churches in the proper sense.
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