This month the Pope asks us to pray for Christian unity, ‘That every believer in Christ may understand that unity among all Christians is necessary for effective proclamation of the gospel.’
Unity and Mission
Pope Benedict writes that ‘being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction’. That decisive direction includes loving one another just as Jesus loved us. ‘By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples’. (Jn.13:35).
Pope Benedict wisely links Unity and Mission in this month’s intentions. Our Lord warned that ‘a city divided against itself cannot stand’ (Mt.12:25). Christian mission is undermined if there is strife between Christians. Christian unity witnesses to the world the authenticity of the Christian faith. There is an urgency about ecumenism, an urgency that is belied by the slowness of developments.
Ecumenism: 1910 to date
It is worthwhile noting developments which have been important in Ecumenism.
The modern ecumenical movement can trace its origins to an event one hundred years ago this year. Appropriately, the setting was a missionary conference. Held in Edinburgh in 1910, it had as its motto ‘the evangelisation of the world in this generation’ and it called for unity among Protestant missionaries. Then in 1948, the World Council of Churches was formed, a body to which the Catholic Church sends observers.
Vatican II was the springboard for a dramatic improvement in relations between Rome and other Christian traditions. If, under the influence of Newman and other like-minded clergy, the Church of England (and other members of the Anglican Communion) became more Catholic in its outlook in the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th century, it can be argued that Vatican II brought in changes which led the Catholic Church in a direction with which the Protestants were more familiar. Reforms included the use of the vernacular at Mass, communion ‘under the two species of bread and wine’, greater encouragement of the study of Sacred Scripture and more involvement in church life by the laity.
In 1969 the Catholic Church introduced a new three-year Sunday Lectionary (i.e., Bible-reading plan). This has substantially been adopted by Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches. This means that Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, hear substantially the same reading from Scripture and hear sermons on the same readings each Sunday, whether at home or abroad on holidays, and this unity must surely move us to want a greater union. There has also been a greater convergence in Eucharistic understandings and in the shape and wording of the liturgy.
What was once a great barrier to unity may be removed following mutual dialogue in faith. One of the great controversies at the time of the Reformation was the question of how a person is justified (or made right) in the sight of God. The Reformers argued that this was by faith alone whereas Rome argued that ‘works’ (i.e., how a person lives) are also critical. In 1999 Catholics and Lutherans reached substantial agreement on the doctrine of justification. Methodists endorsed this agreement in 2006.
Apart from the discussions which are taking place between the Churches, on another level, individual Christians have been exploring and developing their faith together. In this regard, the Charismatic movement which was particularly active in the 1980s was the impetus for many inter-Church prayer meetings and bible-study groups. Concerted action for peace, social justice and poverty has brought the Churches together in many times and places to witness to Christ’s concern for God’s people in their needs.
Certainly much progress has been made since Vatican II in the search for Christian Unity, yet problems persist and even new difficulties have emerged. Disagreements within Anglicanism make it difficult for the Catholic Church to enter meaningful dialogue without the certainty that their counterparts have real authority to speak in a representative manner. The ordination of women raises new theological issues which for some Churches could become barriers to unity. The role of gays in church life (and, in particular, as clergy) is particularly controversial as it brings into question whether the teaching of Sacred Scripture is being discarded by a liberalising trend in Protestant Churches.
Hurts and perceived slights continue to impede progress towards union. On the one hand, Protestants are disappointed by the failure to recognise their Churches as such, since Vatican documents refer to them merely as ‘ecclesial communities’. Anglican clergy feel slighted by the dismissal of their ordinations as ‘absolutely null and utterly void’. For individuals seriously seeking a closer union hurt is also caused by the general Catholic Church rule that communion can only to be offered when there is full union.
As in most relationships, it seems that continuous dialogue is the way forward. St Paul advised us to ‘speak the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). We need to face the issues honestly and charitably and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance as it is He who ‘will guide us into all truth’ (Jn.16:13).
Greater diversity, more dialogue and links
Many believe that Pope Benedict is reaching out to the Orthodox believing that prospects of progress are greater there. There is so much more in common between these two but many years of separation and the papal primacy are obstacles.
Recent immigration from Eastern Europe has meant that Christians from Orthodox traditions are less of a novelty in Ireland. Census 2006 showed that there were almost as many Orthodox Christians in the Republic as Presbyterians. In Dublin, Romanian Orthodox Christians share a church with Methodists, and other Orthodox Christians use Church of Ireland buildings. The Orthodox Churches are in dialogue with the various Protestant denominations as well.
Week of Prayer
Each year the Western Church calendars mark a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from 18 to 25 January. At this time, it is important for all Christians to pray with the Pope for Christian Unity ‘that the world may believe’ (Jn.17:21).
In a prayer from the 2009 Week of Prayer:
‘We pray to you for the unity of all Christians
According to your will,
According to your means,
May your Spirit enable us to experience the suffering caused
by division
To see our sin and to hope beyond all hope.
God, you alone are our hope
You alone are our hope.
Amen.’