The following Q&A happened last week aboard the Papal plane, Sept. 22, 2011

Q: A last question. Holy Father, you will visit Erfurt, the old convent of reformer Martin Luther. Evangelical Christians and Catholics in dialogue with them are preparing to commemorate the fifth centenary of the Reformation. With what message, with what thoughts are you preparing for this meeting? Should this trip be interpreted as a fraternal gesture to brothers and sisters separated from Rome?

Benedict XVI: When I accepted the invitation to make this trip, it was evident to me that the ecumenism with our Evangelical friends should be a strong and central point of this trip. We live in a time of secularism, as I already said, where Christians have the mission to make the message of God present together, the message of Christ, to make belief possible, to go forward with these great ideas, the truth. In this way, being together, Catholics and evangelicals, become a fundamental element for our time, although institutionally we are not perfectly united and, even though big problems remain, problems on the foundation of the faith in Christ, on the Trinitarian God and on man as image of God. We are united and we must show to the world and deepen this unity, which is essential in this historic moment.

For this reason, I am very grateful to our friends, brothers and sisters, Protestants, who have made possible a very significant sign: the meeting in the monastery where Luther began his theological journey, prayer in the church where he was ordained priest and talking together about our responsibility as Christians in this time. I am very happy to be able to manifest this fundamental unity, that we are brothers and sisters, and that we work together for the good of humanity, proclaiming the joyful message of Christ, of the God who has a human face and who speaks with us.

Full transcript from ZENIT can be found here.

As a former Roman Catholic with many family members still practicing their faith, this is a great moment in the Church.