Pope says time not ripe to heal divide

POPE John Paul II has told Protestants that the time is not yet ripe for full reconciliation between them and the Roman Catholic Church.

Speaking during a three day visit to Germany, the Pope praised growing understanding between the Christian churches and admitted that both sides were to blame for divisions within Western Christianity.

But he insisted that important differences remain and accused Martin Luther, who died 450 years ago this year, of overreacting to deficiencies within the 16th century Church.

"Fundamental problems about Luther's views on faith, scriptures, tradition and the Church have not yet been sufficiently clarified. We certainly cannot overlook his personal limits, despite his attention to the word of God and his determination to follow the correct path of faith," he said.

The Pope was speaking at an ecumenical prayer service in the northern town of Paderborn, following an appeal from Bishop Klaus Engelhardt, chairman of the German Protestant Church Council, for closer links between the churches.

Bishop Engelhardt said the two churches were close to agreement on the question of justification by faith, one of the chief theoretical reasons for Luther's split from Rome. The Protestant national synod has already declared that the mutual condemnations of the 16th century no longer apply and they were hoping for a similar announcement from the Pope.

At a ceremony in Berlin's Olympic Stadium yesterday morning, the Pope beatified two priests who were persecuted by the Nazis and paid tribute to the victims of concentration camps, saying their suffering had not been in vain.

But, for the second day running, he dropped a passage from the prepared text of his sermon defending the wartime role of the Catholic Church.

The Pope mentioned that one of the priests received a letter of support from Pope Pius XII, but he omitted the following passage in praise of his predecessor: "Those who do not limit themselves to cheap polemics know very well what Pius XII thought about the Nazi regime and how much he did to help countless victims persecuted by that regime."

Jewish groups have accused Pius XII of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust, but Catholic historians insist that he helped many Jews behind the scenes. Mr Ignaz Bubis, the leader of Germany's Jewish community, said yesterday that he would not raise the issue during his meeting with the Pope, but he would urge him to oppose the building of a supermarket next to the Auschwitz death camp.

The Pope returned to Rome last night after walking through the Brandenburg Gate with the Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, who has criticised Catholic teaching on contraception.