Breaking down the Walls of Division

I was moved by the NYT's story on Brother Roger Schutz (At His Funeral, Brother Roger Has an Ecumenical Dream Fulfilled"), who was senselessly stabbed last week by a disturbed Romanian woman looking for attention. Here are some excerpts:

Brother Roger Schutz pursued many ecumenical dreams in his long life, but in death one of them came true: At a Eucharistic service celebrated Tuesday by a Roman Catholic cardinal for Brother Roger, a Swiss Protestant, communion wafers were given to the faithful indiscriminately, regardless of denomination.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Vatican's council for the unity of Christians, who celebrated the Mass, said in a homily, "Yes, the springtime of ecumenism has flowered on the hill of Taize." Beyond religious divisions, Brother Roger also abhorred the division between rich and poor. "Every form of injustice or neglect made him very sad" Cardinal Kasper said. Brother Roger's community and friends, including President Horst Kohler of Germany and the retired archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger, attended the liturgy in the vast wooden monastery church at Taize, while thousands more followed it on a huge screen in fields outside the church. Brother Roger was 90 when he was stabbed to death by a Romanian woman, Luminita Solcan, 36, during an evening service in the church one week ago. His successor, the Rev. Alois Leser, a Roman Catholic priest from Germany, prayed for forgiveness: "With Christ on the cross we say to you, Father, forgive her, she does not know what she did"

Here's another link to an article with more details on the history of Brother Roger and some quotes from varioius Christian leaders.