In this
week of prayer for Christian unity, I wanted to take some time to reflect on
the topic of Ecumenism. As a Catholic
priest, whose faith came alive as a teenager whilst visiting a friends
Evangelical Church, as someone who has made multiple trips during my formative years
to the ecumenical community of Taizé in France, and as someone who has been brought
up amongst an extended family of Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostal Christians,
Ecumenism is not just close to my heart, its in my very DNA!
It is
common in Catholic circles to talk about the ‘New Evangelisation’. Successive Popes
have urged us, as a Church to engage in this great work of Evangelisation, once
again, proposing the gospel in a new a fresh way to our world as well as to
those Catholics who are ‘catechised but not evangelised’. I would argue,
however, that an important dimension of the New Evangelisation will be a ‘New
Ecumenism’.
That Christ
founded one Church, and that he prayed for that Church to be one is a
foundational tenant of the Christian Faith. Furthermore, it stands to reason
that if the Church is the Body of Christ, and Christ is One, his body also
should be one. The sad truth, however, is that the Church is divided. The two-thousand-year
history of the Christian Church has seen significant divisions, the great
schism between East and West in the Eleventh Century and then the protestant
reformation of the Sixteen century. These divisions occurred for several
reasons, but the underlying reason is that the Church is made up of sinful
human beings, albeit sinners who are on a pilgrim journey of holiness. Just as
we are not content with sin, we should not be content with the fruit of sin: division.
It seems to me, that to work for the unity of the Church is an essential part
of what it means to be a Christian: a sinner, in need of the mercy of God, who
is on a journey of conversion.
In the
past, the attitude towards Christian unity from in the Catholic Church could
perhaps be summarised as ‘Christian unity means everyone should convert to the One
True Faith’. This was not a helpful attitude, but it was not that it was all
that different from other Christians either. Whilst, it’s true that Catholics
joined the ecumenical movement much later than some other Christians, hostility
from other Christians towards the Church of Rome was (and still is, in some
quarters) a reality. There is no need to point fingers, suffice to say, all
Christian communions bear some responsibility for the divisions in the Church.
This said,
as a Catholic I am interested how, as the Catholic Church, we work for unity of
Christ’s body, the Church. The Second
Vatican Council had a lot to say about the relationship between the Catholic
Church and other Christian believers but sixty years on it is taking time for
this important teaching to disseminate and be interiorised by Catholic
believers.
The first
thing to remind ourselves of is that that other Christians of other churches
and communities are our brothers and sisters. They are not heretics who are
guilty of crimes, but are fellow pilgrims in the One Church of God. The Council
stated clearly:
"The Children who are born in to these communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin of separation, and the Catholic Church embraces them as brothers, with respect and affection. For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptised are in communion with the Catholic Church even thought this communion is imperfect." (Unitatis Redintegratio 3)
One of the
keys ideas, re-articulated by the second Vatican council, is the idea of
degrees of communion. This is an important development, that has in my opinion
yet to really take hold. Put simply: those baptised members of the Church who
hold to the Catholic faith and remain in state of grace are in full-communion.
This full-communion is made visible in the act of receiving Holy Communion
Mass. This communion, however, can be damaged and disrupted by sin and other factors,
so there remains people who, although they are Catholics in communion with the
Church, for whatever reason do not enjoy full-communion and so they do not receive
Holy Communion. (Until such a time as full-communion is restored.)
As well as
Catholics who don’t receive Holy Communion, we must then include our brothers
and sisters from other Christian traditions. (who, because we are not in full-communion would
also not receive Holy Communion) In so far as we profess belief in Christ,
share the same Scriptures are united by the same Baptism, we are in communion
with them, albeit in varying degrees. These
degrees of communion do not, however, undo or denigrate the fact that when we are
baptised, we become members of Christ’s body. Is does not change the truth that
he or she who professes Christ is my brother and sister. The Vatican Council stated
clearly:
"The differences that exist in varying degrees...do indeed create many obstacles...But even in spite of them it remains true that all who have been justified by faith in baptism are members of Christ's body, and have a right to be called Christian and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church." (Unitatis Redintegratio 3)
I believe,
all Catholics, indeed all Christians, if we are take faith in Christ and our
baptism’s seriously, need to acknowledge each other as brothers and sisters.
Yes, we have our difficulties and our differences and we might not ever enjoy full,
visible communion – but we are family, Christ’s family. Our uncharitable
attitudes hamper our mission and witness to the world. I think the image of a
family is a very helpful. Families come in all shapes and sizes and are extended
through many relatives and friends. Some of our relatives we are very close to,
(physically if we live with them, emotionally and spiritually if we share a specific
bond) other relatives we might not see
very much at all - but if we are related then we are related and we cannot
change this basic fact!
The church
is a family, we are the pilgrim people of God. I pray in this week of prayer for
Christian unity that we can see past our divisions and celebrate the Christ who
makes us one. In a world and society every more polarized and divided the
Church has the power to reach across divides and to bring about communion in
Christ. This will not happen, however, until
we can recognise our brothers and sisters in the faith. One way to try and move
past the divisions, without downplaying our history and our differences is to change
our attitude and way of thinking. For example, I try not to think of Baptists, Evangelicals or Anglicans as different
churches (or ecclesial communions), but rather as catholic- Baptists or catholic-evangelical/catholic-Anglican
brothers and sisters who I am in communion,
albeit a partial communion with. This recognition and celebrating of partial communion
I believe is to be a constitutive part of a ‘New Ecumenism.’ Whilst I profess
and believe that the fullness of Christ’s Church subsists as the Catholic Church,
my prayer, especially in this week of Christian unity, is that all the baptised
will have the grace to recognise that we belong to One Church - however damaged,
and that we will confidently profess One Faith, One Lord and One baptism to our
world. Amen.
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