Catholic Church and ecumenism
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The Catholic Church has been heavily involved in the ecumenical movement since the Second Vatican Council (1961-1965).
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[edit] Before the Second Vatican Council
Before the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church saw its relations with other Christian groups as a matter of persuading them to return to a unity that they themselves had broken. The article Union of Christendom in the Catholic Encyclopedia is an illustration of that perspective. Pursuit of unity, thus understood, was always a principal aim of the Church. At the Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1438-1442), in which some bishops of the Eastern Orthodox Church participated, reunion formulas were worked out that, however, failed to win acceptance by the Eastern Church. The aim of the Second Vatican Council, as its initiator, Pope John XXIII, stated, was instead to seek renewal of the Church itself, which would serve, for those separated from the see of Rome, as a "gentle invitation to seek and find that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed so ardently to his heavenly Father."[1] The Council opened up an era of earnest endeavour not only to explain to others the Church's teaching, but also to understand their outlook.
[edit] Since the Second Vatican Council
While the Catholic Church sees itself as the Church founded by Christ, it recognizes that many of the salvific elements of the Gospel are found in other Churches also. The Second Vatican Council document, Lumen Gentium, 8, says that the sole Church of Christ as "subsists in", rather than simply "is" the Catholic Church, in view of its following statement: "Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and truth are found outside its visible confines. Since these are gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity."
The Catholic Church has, since the Second Vatican Council, reached out to Christian bodies, seeking reconciliation to the greatest degree possible. Significant agreements have been achieved on Baptism, ministry and the Eucharist with Anglican theologians. With Lutheran bodies a similar agreement has been reached on the theology of justification. These landmark documents have brought closer fraternal ties with those Churches. However, recent developments, such as the ordination of women and of men living in homosexual relationships, present new obstacles to reconciliation with, in particular, Anglicans. Consequently, in recent years the Catholic Church's has focused its efforts at reconciliation with the Orthodox Churches of the East, with which the theological differences are not as great. While relations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches were strained in the 1990's over property issues in countries that were formerly Soviet-dominated, these differences are now largely resolved. Fraternal relations with the Eastern churches continue to progress.
[edit] Relations with Orthodox churches
The Catholic Church recognizes 21 Ecumenical or General Councils: Nicaea I (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680–681), Nicaea II (787), Constantinople IV (869–870), Lateran I (1123), Lateran II (1139), Lateran III (1179), Lateran IV (1215), Lyons I (1245), Lyons II (1274), Vienne (1311–1312), Constance (1414–1418), Florence (1438–1445), Lateran V (1512–1517), Trent (1545–1563), Vatican I (1869–1870), Vatican II (1962–1965).
Of these, the Orthodox Churches of Byzantine tradition accept only the first seven, the family of "non-Chalcedonian" or "pre-Chalcedonian" Churches only the first three, and the Christians of Nestorian tradition only the first two.
In spite of this, dialogue has shown that even where the break with one of the Orthodox Churches occurred as far back as the Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), long before the break with Constantinople (1054), the few doctrinal differences often concern terminology, not substance.
Emblematic is the "Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East."[2] The division between the two Churches in question goes back to the disputes over the legitimacy of the expression "Mother of God" (as well as "Mother of Christ") for the Virgin Mary that came to a head at the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Common Declaration recalls that the Assyrian Church of the East prays to the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour", and the Catholic tradition addresses the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ", fuller expressions by which each Church clearly acknowledges both the divinity and the humanity of Mary's son. The co-signers of the Common Declaration could thus state: "We both recognize the legitimacy and rightness of these expressions of the same faith and we both respect the preference of each Church in her liturgical life and piety."
Some of the most difficult questions in relations with the ancient Eastern Churches concern not so much doctrine as practical matters such as the concrete exercise of the claim to papal primacy and how to ensure that ecclesial union would not mean mere absorption of the smaller Churches by the Latin component of the much larger Catholic Church (the most numerous single religious denomination in the world), and the stifling or abandonment of their own rich theological, liturgical and cultural heritage.
[edit] Relations with Anglican churches
Dialogue with the Anglican Communion formally began in 1966, with the meeting of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Paul VI.[1] The following year, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission was established, charged with the task of working towards full communion between the denominations. Its first project focused on the authority of Scripture, and the Commission has since produced nine agreed statements. Phase One of ARCIC ended in 1981 with the publication of a final report, Elucidations on Authority in the Church. Phase Two has been ongoing since 1983. The most recent agreed statement dealt with Marian theology, and was published in 2004.
Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, warned that if the Church of England was to ordain women as bishops, as the Episcopal Church has done, then it could destroy any chance of reuniting the Anglican and Catholic Churches.[3]
[edit] Relations with Protestant churches
The Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue began over thirty years ago, and has consisted of eleven rounds of discussion. The most recent discussion has focused on doctrines associated with eternal life. The dialogue process has produced one major joint declaration, concerning the doctrine of justification, issued in 1999 .[2]
One of the most significant documents on ecumenical relations was Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, published by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1982.[3] Although the Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, some Catholic theologians are full members of the Commission, though not as representatives of their Church, and participated in the production of the paper, the aim of which was to seek common ground between the various traditions concerning the Christian rite of initiation (Baptism), the sacrament of the Eucharist, and the nature of Holy Orders, while also stating clearly the differences existing between them. The Churches were invited to indicate their reactions to the contents of the document, with a view to "analyz(ing) the ecumenical implications for the churches at a future World Conference on Faith and Order."
For more information about differences among Christians see Great Schism and Protestant Reformation. For more information about outreach between various denominations, see ecumenism.
[edit] Major documents
Some elements of the Roman Catholic perspective on ecumenism are illustrated in the following quotations from the Council's decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio (UR), of 21 November 1964, and Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Ut Unum Sint (UUS) of 25 May 1995.
- Every renewal of the Church is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. Undoubtedly this is the basis of the movement toward unity ... There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart. For it is from renewal of the inner life of our minds, from self-denial and an unstinted love that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble. gentle in the service of others, and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity towards them. ... The words of St. John hold good about sins against unity: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us". So we humbly beg pardon of God and of our separated brethren, just as we forgive them that trespass against us. (UR, 6-7)
- 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. (UUS, 2)
- In ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church and investigating the divine mysteries with the separated brethren must proceed with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility. When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a "hierarchy" of truths, since they vary in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith. Thus the way will be opened by which through fraternal rivalry all will be stirred to a deeper understanding and a clearer presentation of the unfathomable riches of Christ (UR, 11)
- The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. In the Body of Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of the truth?...Even so, doctrine needs to be presented in a way that makes it understandable to those for whom God himself intends it. (UUS, 18-19)
- When the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion have been gradually overcome, all Christians will at last, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, be gathered into the one and only Church in that unity which Christ bestowed on His Church from the beginning. We believe that this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time. (UR, 4)
