Ecumenism

Christians have much in common, but the divisions that still persist wound the body of the Church. Spanish theologian, Rev. Pedro Rodriguez, provides context for forming resolutions in the closing days of the Church unity octave.

2008/01/19

In his encyclical, Ut Unum Sint, John Paul II indicated the centrality of the ecumenical task: “The movement toward the unity of all Christians is not a mere appendage of the Church’s traditional activity. On the contrary, it belongs organically to her life and action.”[1] Benedict XVI has also put his maximum effort into restoring the unity of all of Our Lord’s disciples: “I renew…my firm will, manifested at the beginning of my pontificate, to give energetic priority to the work of restoring the full visible unity of all Christ’s followers.”[2] All Catholics should feel this same deep concern for unity. An essential aspiration of every Christian is the full communion of mankind with God as members of the one Church founded by Christ—in accord with His prayer, “that all may be one.”[3] As the Second Vatican Council taught, Christ’s Church continues to exist in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church.[4]

For the full communion of all Christians to come about, the first means is close union with Christ’s prayer: “I pray not only for them, but for all those who will believe in Me through their word;”[5]—“that they may be one as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be consummated in unity.”[6] As Pope Benedict has said, “We cannot ‘make’ unity by our efforts alone. We can only obtain it as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, spiritual ecumenism—prayer, conversion, and holiness of life—is the heart of ecumenical work.”[7] In their daily prayers, the faithful of Opus Dei repeat these words of Our Lord: “Ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me et ego in te: ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus.” Moved by his desire to promote unity, St. Josemaría exhorted all Christians to “offer prayer, expiation, and action ‘ut sint unum!’—that we all have the same will, the same heart, the same spirit; that ‘omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!’—we all go to Jesus through Mary, closely united to the Pope.”[8]

The Scandal of Separation

The mission of the Church—of Christ present in time, rightly called “the time of the Church”—is to build a unity of faith and communion among men. “It must not be forgotten,” John Paul II reminded us, “that the Lord asked the Father for the unity of His disciples as a witness to His mission.”[9] Jesus Himself pointed out the goal of that close unity: “ut mundus credat—that the world might believe—that Thou hast sent Me.”[10] Separation contradicts God’s will and constitutes a serious obstacle to evangelization. “The lack of unity among Christians wounds the Church, not by depriving her of unity, but by impeding the full realization of her universality in history.”[11]

In the historical incidents that led to disagreements and divisions among Christians, both sides have at times been at fault.[12] Therefore, John Paul II invited all Christians—Catholics as well as non-Catholics—to a “necessary purification of historical memory” and to a “reconsideration of past sorrows” in order to “reconcile with sincere and complete objectivity the errors committed and related factors that led to these lamentable divisions.”[13] On the other hand, Christians who were born later into the churches and non-Catholic communities—as the Decree Unitatis Redintegratio indicates[14]—are not at fault for past divisions and are loved by the Church and recognized as brothers and sisters.

[1] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint, May 25, 1995, no. 20.

[2] Benedict XVI, Discourse to the Preparatory Commission of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly, Jan. 26, 2006.

[3] Jn 17:21.

[4] Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, Nov. 21, 1964, no. 8; cf Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Response to Question 2, June 29, 2007.

[5] Jn 17:20.

[6] Jn 17:22-23.

[7] Benedict XVI, Discourse at the Ecumenical Meeting of World Youth Day XX, Cologne, Aug. 18, 2005.

[8] St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, no. 647.

[9] John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, op. cit., no. 23.

[10] Jn 17:21.

[11] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, Aug. 6, 2000, no. 17.

[12] Cf. Vatican Council II, Decree Unitatis Redintegratio, Nov. 21, 1964, no. 3.

[13] John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, op. cit., no. 2.

[14] Cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, op. cit., no. 3.

Ecumenism

Christians have much in common, but the divisions that still persist wound the body of the Church. Spanish theologian, Rev. Pedro Rodriguez, provides context for forming resolutions in the closing days of the Church unity octave. 2008/01/19

Christians have much in common, but the divisions that still persist wound the body of the Church. Spanish theologian, Rev. Pedro Rodriguez, provides context for forming resolutions in the closing days of the Church unity octave.

2008/01/19