ABSTRACT
It has given pause to Pope John Paul II. The result is his extraordinary encyclical Ut Unum Sint (‘That They Be One’, 1995). In it he charts new ways. He accepts that the Roman Catholic Church is in need of perpetual conversion, metanoia (No. 15). Then he pointedly recalls ‘how the Master concerned himself with Peter’s conversion’ (No. 91) and adds that his own ministry is ‘open to a new situation’ (No. 95). He goes on to conclude, ‘I insistently pray the Holy Spirit to shine his light upon us, enlightening all the Pastors as theologians of our churches, that we may seek – together, of course – the forms in which this ministry may accomplish a service of love recognized by all concerned’.
