Vatican regret over Holy Communion

The recently retired senior Vatican official responsible for ecumenical affairs has said his biggest regret during his tenure in Rome is that he did not achieve an agreement on a common communion with Protestants. "Today, there is a lot of convergence. So we got closer to each other but we could not achieve the final breakthrough. I regret it very much but you cannot push the issue," said Cardinal Walter Kasper, who retired on 1 July as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. "The main thing that I did not achieve is the sharing of Holy Communion," Kasper told ENI news in an interview in Stuttgart, while attending the 20-27 July assembly of the Lutheran World Federation.

Desmond Tutu announces retirement
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has announced his intention to wind down his public engagements, when he turns 79 in October. "I think I have done as much as I can, and I really do need time for other things that I have wanted to do," Tutu told a media briefing at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town. He also thanked South Africans for their contribution to the world.