Pope warns Catholics to hold to doctrine

VATICAN CITY, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI said Friday at the Vatican the world faces a crisis of faith and warned against indifference to doctrine in the name of religious unity.

"Today we see a number of good results caused by ecumenical dialogue, but we must also recognize that the risk of a false Irenism and indifference, quite alien to the mind of Vatican II, demands our vigilance," the spiritual leader of the world's Roman Catholics said Friday at a meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Irenism was an ideology conceived by Dutch theologian Erasmus that sought to mediate differences between Protestants and Catholics, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

The Catholic Church is currently honoring the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, ANSA said.