“so that they may all be one”
What is Ecumenism? We will unpack ecumenism and the church documents, but to give a concise definition and/or answer to this question ecumenism is “The modern movement toward Christian unity whose Protestant origins stem from the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910, and whose Catholic principles were informulated by the Second Vatican Council in 1964. These principles are mainly three:
1. Christ established his Church on the Apostles and their episcopal successors, whose visible head and principle of unity became Peter and his successor the Bishop of Rome;
2. Since the first century there have been divisions in Christianity, but many persons now separated from visible unity with the successors of the Apostles under Peter are nevertheless Christians who possess more or less of the fullness of grace available in the Roman Catholic Church;
3. Catholics are to do everything possible to foster the ecumenical movement, which comprehends all ‘the initiatives and activities, planned and undertaken to promote Christian unity, according to the Church’s various needs and as opportunities offer’ (Decree on Ecumenism, I, 4).”[i]
In other words, the Church is looking to bring back fellow Christians who are not in full union with the Catholic Church.
Why is ecumenism so important? As Blessed Pope John Paul II said, “If they wish truly and effectively to oppose the world's tendency to reduce to powerlessness the Mystery of Redemption, they must profess together the same truth about the Cross.”[ii]
Why is ecumenism difficult? Blessed Pope John Paul II mentions several reasons why it is difficult at times for ecumenism: “Nevertheless, besides the doctrinal differences needing to be resolved, Christians cannot underestimate the burden of long-standing misgivings inherited from the past, and of mutual misunderstandings and prejudices. Complacency, indifference and insufficient knowledge of one another often make this situation worse. Consequently, the commitment to ecumenism must be based upon the conversion of hearts and upon prayer, which will also lead to the necessary purification of past memories. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord's disciples, inspired by love, by the power of the truth and by a sincere desire for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, are called to re-examine together their painful past and the hurt which that past regrettably continues to provoke even today. All together, they are invited by the ever fresh power of the Gospel to acknowledge with sincere and total objectivity the mistakes made and the contingent factors at work at the origins of their deplorable divisions. What is needed is a calm, clear-sighted and truthful vision of things, a vision enlivened by divine mercy and capable of freeing people's minds and of inspiring in everyone a renewed willingness, precisely with a view to proclaiming the Gospel to the men and women of every people and nation.”[iii]
Why is the Church so concerned with ecumenism? The Church is concerned about saving souls. Jesus has told us to go out and proclaim the Good News. We are Church with doors and arms open “Together with all Christ's disciples, the Catholic Church bases upon God's plan her ecumenical commitment to gather all Christians into unity. Indeed, ‘the Church is not a reality closed in on herself. Rather, she is permanently open to missionary and ecumenical endeavour, for she is sent to the world to announce and witness, to make present and spread the mystery of communion which is essential to her, and to gather all people and all things into Christ, so as to be for all an “inseparable sacrament of unity”’.”[iv]
What does disunity cause? First, it contradicts the will of Christ. Second, it scandalized the world. Why would anyone want to become a follower of Christ or even adhere to our prayer, belief, and life if they see Christians that are not united in prayer, belief, or life? Finally, it damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel. The Second Vatican Council made the restoration of unity among Christians a top priority. “Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but differ in mind and go their different ways, as if Christ Himself were divided. Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.”[v]
Does God want unity and ecumenism? Yes! This is what God has willed for all time. “The unity of all divided humanity is the will of God. For this reason he sent his Son, so that by dying and rising for us he might bestow on us the Spirit of love. On the eve of his sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus himself prayed to the Father for his disciples and for all those who believe in him, that they might be one, a living communion. This is the basis not only of the duty, but also of the responsibility before God and his plan, which falls to those who through Baptism become members of the Body of Christ, a Body in which the fullness of reconciliation and communion must be made present. How is it possible to remain divided, if we have been ‘buried’ through Baptism in the Lord's death, in the very act by which God, through the death of his Son, has broken down the walls of division? Division ‘openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature’.”[vi]
“Jesus himself, at the hour of his Passion, prayed ‘that they may all be one’ (Jn 17:21). This unity, which the Lord has bestowed on his Church and in which he wishes to embrace all people, is not something added on, but stands at the very heart of Christ's mission. Nor is it some secondary attribute of the community of his disciples. Rather, it belongs to the very essence of this community. God wills the Church, because he wills unity, and unity is an expression of the whole depth of hisagape.”[vii]
What are the differences between the Eastern Churches and the Reformation Churches? This is a difficult question to answer in a few sentences, but put simply each Church and ecclesial Community has their own origins and different teachings in the matters of faith and morals. The Church looks to build bridges with each of the separated churches and communities on a case by case bases. “It follows that these separated Churches and Communities, though we believe that they suffer from defects, have by no means been deprived of significance and value in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church”[viii].
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“Even in the beginnings of this one and only Church of God there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly condemned. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions made their appearance and quite large communities came to be separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame. The children who are born into these Communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin involved in the separation, and the Catholic Church embraces upon them as brothers, with respect and affection. For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect. The differences that exist in varying degrees between them and the Catholic Church - whether in doctrine and sometimes in discipline, or concerning the structure of the Church - do indeed create many obstacles, sometimes serious ones, to full ecclesiastical communion. The ecumenical movement is striving to overcome these 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.”[ix]
How can other Christians exist outside the Catholic Church? “…some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too.”[x] The spirit blows where it wills to blows. This doesn’t mean that they have Truth that cannot be found in the Church. It means even though they may be separated doesn’t mean God can’t infuse grace upon them. “Nevertheless, our separated brethren, whether considered as individuals or as Communities and Churches, are not blessed with that unity which Jesus Christ wished to bestow on all those who through Him were born again into one body, and with Him quickened to newness of life - that unity which the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Tradition of the Church proclaim. For it is only through Christ's Catholic Church, which is ‘the all-embracing means of salvation,’ that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation. We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God. This people of God, though still in its members liable to sin, is ever growing in Christ during its pilgrimage on earth, and is guided by God's gentle wisdom, according to His hidden designs, until it shall happily arrive at the fullness of eternal glory in the heavenly Jerusalem.”[xi]
[i] Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 179
[ii] Introduction, Ut unum sint, 25 May, 1995, John Paul II
[iii] ibid. 2
[iv] ibid. 5
[v] unitatis Redintegratio, Second Vatican Council 1964
[vi] ibid. 6.
[vii] ibid. 9
[viii] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 3.
[ix] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 3
[x] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio
[xi] ibid.