Although some 95 percent of Poles are Catholic and marry Catholics, the pope said ecumenical dialogue in Poland could bring practical benefits to the country by helping couples understand common Christian teaching on family life and the importance of giving a religious education to their children.

Pope Benedict met May 25 with members of the Catholic Church's official dialogue partner in Poland, an ecumenical council that includes Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and Old Catholic communities.

The meeting was held in Warsaw's Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, the same church where Pope John Paul II met ecumenical leaders during his 1991 trip to Poland.

"Since that encounter, much has changed," said Pope Benedict, listing important agreements reached among Polish Christians and between the Vatican and worldwide Christian churches and communities.

He particularly praised the mutual recognition of baptism among Polish Christians, the joint publication of the New Testament and the Book of Psalms and an ecumenical campaign to help poor children at Christmas.

"We note much progress in the field of ecumenism and yet we always await something more," the pope told the leaders, reaffirming that "the restoration of full visible unity among Christians" is a priority of his pontificate.

"The seriousness of the task prohibits all haste or impatience, but the duty to respond to Christ's will demands that we remain firm on the path toward peace and unity among all Christians," Pope Benedict said.

The first task of Christians who yearn for unity, he said, is to pray that God would give that gift to his Son's disciples, to forgive one another for past offenses against unity and to live holy lives.

An Orthodox and a Lutheran choir alternated singing at the meeting and representatives from all the Christian churches offered prayers.

Orthodox Archbishop Jeremiasz Anchimuk of Wroclaw and Szczecin, president of the ecumenical council, gave the pope an icon of Christ, then helped the pope bless the congregation with it.

After the meeting, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told reporters that when Pope John Paul addressed the ecumenical group 15 years earlier Poland's Christian leaders were just beginning serious dialogue.

He said the Polish-born pope's insistence on ecumenism convinced the Polish Catholic bishops to take dialogue seriously.

"Now ecumenical relations here are more or less normal," he said, "and Pope Benedict's presence is a confirmation of this."

What Pope Benedict described as a project to establish "principles acceptable to all for contracting interdenominational marriages" is a project that can make ecumenical progress concrete in Poland, the cardinal said.

"It is a tough point of ecumenism," he said. "It is where ecumenism comes to earth."

Pope Benedict told the Christian representatives that, "for the young people themselves and for those dear to them," marrying someone from another denomination "is often a difficult decision that brings with it various dangers concerning both perseverance in the faith and the future structuring of the family."

The pope said the churches have an obligation to help their faithful create "an atmosphere of unity in the family and ... suitable conditions for the spiritual growth of the children."

Cardinal Kasper said the pope was not saying it did not matter which faith community the children were raised in, "but according to canon law both parents must take very seriously their responsibility to raise their children in the Christian faith."