LETTER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
FOR BRAZIL'S ECUMENICAL
"BROTHERHOOD CAMPAIGN"

To my Venerable Brother in the Episcopate
Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo
President of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops
Archbishop of São Salvador
and Primate of Brazil

With my most cordial greetings to the Christians of Brazil who are following the Lenten spiritual itinerary on their way to Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord, I would like once again to adhere to the Brotherhood Campaign, whose theme in this year 2005 will be "Solidarity and Peace:  Blessed are the peacemakers". This auspicious project, initiated by the Catholic Church over 40 years ago, extends to all Christian denominations represented by the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC). Hence, it is an important opportunity for ecumenical collaboration.

In the world in which we live, all too often troubled by violence and scarred by indifferentism, Christians who share the commitment to promoting peace and solidarity prove to be effective instruments of evangelization and an example for all of building a society that is more brotherly and more attentive to the needs of the poor and the destitute.

The ecumenical context of the Brotherhood Campaign this year, and the collaboration that derives from it, will help Brazilian Christians to understand one another better and esteem one another more (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 12).

I hope with all my heart that thanks to this cooperation and with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Ecumenical "Brotherhood Campaign" will contribute to deepening our common belonging to Christ. I also hope that it will be an incentive to personal and communal dialogue, that it will extend charity and acquire the dimensions of a proclamation that reveals the face of Christ (cf. Ut Unum Sint, n. 75), in order to celebrate fruitfully the Paschal Mystery of the Lord.

With a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 3 January 2005

JOHN PAUL II