By UCAN

Protestant leaders in India assert that the recently issued Vatican document identifying the Catholic Church as the Church Christ established is a threat to ecumenism.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on July 10 released Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church to clarify certain Vatican Council II teachings.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the document that Cardinal William Levada, CDF's prefect, signed. The text attempts to clarify "the authentic meaning of some ecclesiological expressions" the magisterium uses that could be misunderstood.


According to the text, Protestant denominations do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of orders, "and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church."

Reverend Enos Das Pradhan, general secretary of the Church of North India (CNI), expressed dismay over the Vatican position. He told UCA News on July 26 that the document has "shattered" years of efforts to promote ecumenism. "The Catholic Church cannot ascertain supremacy over the other Churches," he said.

He added: "We have to realize the whole Church, with all its denominations, is equal in faith. We all believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

He also said he wants the various Churches to work together for "greater ecumenism." The concept of a unified Church is "never possible," he asserted.

Reverend Abraham Stephen similarly expressed unhappiness about the document. "Christ has not established any Church and he has been always against institutional structures," the professor of Religion at Bangalore's United Theological College (UTC) told UCA News.

Bangalore, 2,060 kilometers south of New Delhi, is the capital of Karnataka state. The city is also known as "the Vatican of the East" because it houses several Christian Churches and their various offices.

Reverend Stephen explained that "Church" refers to a community of faith in Christ, but the CDF text uses the term to refer to a hierarchical institution.

"Jesus was always against hierarchy and power, and therefore, there is no meaning to apostolic succession," he said. Such documents, Reverend Stephen pointed out, create "confusion among Churches" about the relevance of ecumenism that had reached "great heights under the previous pope."

In India, he noted, Hindu fundamentalist groups have already taken advantage of divisions among Christian denominations, and this "gap" widens further with the Catholic Church's stand.

Reverend O. V. Jathanna, the principal of UTC, said the Vatican document is disappointing and discouraging. "We expected the Catholic Church to go forward, a trend the previous pope initiated, but unfortunately it is going backward to pre-Vatican II," lamented the Church of South India theologian.

He said Churches should accept "the supremacy and fatherhood of Jesus," not of any Church or establishment, and "when we are facing lots of external threats, there is a great necessity for ecumenism and inter-Church relations."

Reverend Jathanna further remarked that the pope has again shown he is "ultra-conservative" and "non-compromising" in his attitudes.

Reverend M.J. Joseph, former director of the Bangalore-based Ecumenical Christian Centre, told UCA News the Vatican document disappointed him, too.

"It is like giving a direct blow to the ecumenical movements in India, which will have negative impacts," said the member of Mar Thoma Church, a reformed Orthodox group. Ecumenism is "not inviting the other to accept one's supremacy but accepting each other as members in the union of Christian faith," he said.

S. Daud of the Evangelical Church of India says he wants the Vatican to promote Christianity instead of dividing Churches and causing confusion among ordinary Indians who know little about Christian denominations.

Daud also told UCA News the document will give the impression that a caste system exists within Christianity. Based in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state, 745 kilometers south of New Delhi, he is president of the Madhya Pradesh chapter of the All India Christian Council.


Click here to return to homepage

Self-described Christian apologist and 'Snt. Johnny' webmaster Anthony Horvath explains why he's using the Internet to spread the Word

By Robert Duncan

The Internet era is opening new communication avenues - and with it an ever-increasing number of electronic missionaries. Self-described Christian apologist Anthony Horvath is one such person who is uniting a love for his faith with technology.

That said Horvath, who runs the Snt. Johnny website, starts from a pessimistic outlook toward what he believes is the current status of Christianity, and the Christian Church in general. The response, according to Horvath, is to be obedient to Peter's charge in 1 Peter 3:15 to always be ready to give the reasons for what we believe.

According to Horvath, who has a BA in pastoral ministry and is working on a Masters in Philosophy and Apologetics, the Church "is near total defeat because it has failed over the course of recent decades to present itself vigorously."

Horvath - who has worked as a religion teacher and Director for Parish Ministries at a Lutheran church in Wisconsin - says that many modern-day atheists claim to have had a Christian upbringing. And that is where the technology part of Horvath's mission meets his faith. "People aren't going to their pastors for their information anymore. They're going to the Internet. People aren't leaving the Church just because they're bored with worship styles. People want substance and don't know that we have it," he says.

A quick glance at the Snt. Johnny website shows that Horvath at least appears to be avoiding what for many are "ecumenical hangups," to instead focus his attention on what he calls "propositional terms" for determining if a person is a Christian. A person is a Christian, Horvath argues, if he believes the three "Ecumenical creeds."

"At this point, some 1.5 billion people still hold to what are called the Ecumenical creeds, the Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creed. When the Lutherans disagreed with the Catholics, they called themselves something different (because their propositions in some cases varied) but they could still both be called “Christians” because both groups abided by the Ecumenical creeds," writes Horvath on his website.

While not anti-Catholic, the recent reiteration on the part of the Vatican regarding the definition of "Church" - which some Christians and press mistakenly thought the Vatican was declaring that non-Catholics were not Christians – does seem to rankle Horvath and his Lutheran background.

“There seems to be the attitude that merely belonging to the organizational framework of the Catholic Church is all that is 'required' of a person. The Scriptures really don't support that idea, and the apathy that results in many cases is completely predictable,” Horvath says, adding “But the problem isn't just in the Catholic Church. This notion that a person is 'safe' so long as they are members of some official congregation and that their soul is in jeopardy if they are not is seriously harming the Christian church.”

According to Horvath, “There are some people that have the notion that our job on the planet is to maintain the borders of the 'Church' and if possible, grow those borders. In a word, they think the goal is to win people for the Church. But in fact our job is to save those who are in eternal peril, in a word, save them for
Christ.”

Horvath also has harsh words for some churches that “focus on entertaining young people - and adults, too - as though if we just keep them entertained well enough they'll stay in the church. That just isn't the reality. Keep them entertained well enough and many will have pleasant memories about the churches they used to go to and won't like it when people make fun of the church, but they themselves will have chosen to leave the faith altogether.”

“We need to ask ourselves what we are about and really live with the implications. Curriculum should be chosen because of its substance rather than its style. There needs to be more clarity from the earliest to the oldest ages on just what the doctrines of the Church are and how they are derived from the Scriptures,” says Horvath.

In that way, Horvath argues that one of his goals is to be a wake-up call to the united body of Christians. Horvath's mission is also in a large part a result of his having toyed with atheism after years of Christian education.

Horvath explains, "First and foremost, the Church produces atheists by refusing to address the questions that young people have, but secondarily, the Church has failed to explain what it believes and why. Books like Richard Dawkins's "The God Delusion" and Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" do not become best sellers in a society that understands what Christianity is all about."

The solution, according to Horvath, is apologetics in the defence of the Christian faith. "(What) I am talking about is apologetics at a much broader scale then normally understood. It should not be left to professors or specialists, such as C.S. Lewis. It needs to be incorporated into everything we do as the Church from cradle to grave."

Horvath cites the Resurrection of Jesus as an example, "It is one thing to state that the Christian church believes that Jesus rose from the dead, as a point of dogma and doctrine. It is another to state the belief and give the reasons for maintaining that belief."

While Horvath admits there are plenty of “fine apologetic” websites already, he believes his site is different from many others as, “I focus on dealing with the individual arguments of individual non-Christians and don't usually produce material for the broader audience. But the main difference is that this site is mine.”

Furthermore, Horvath notes that by having his own platform he can engage the
the world using his own particular strengths. And while Horvath says that he has seen some people turn to Christianity, the thing to remember is that apologetics is very much 'pre-evangelism.'

"I have a real heart for the college kid looking for answers, but I think the big picture requires us to stop sending our youth out like lambs to the slaughter in the first place,” Horvath said. "The battle turns on the success or failure of the local congregations to step up to the challenge."





Click here to return to homepage

By Dr. Ann Riggs, NCC's associate general secretary for Faith and Order

The Vatican statement says it is a clarification of erroneous interpretation which has given rise to some confusion and doubts about what Catholic doctrine on the Church is. These interpretations, doubts and questions are found in Catholic theological debate. That's what the document addresses. Of course, in our ecumenical age, we from other churches take an interest in what it says to its own members. So the document is also being interpreted by many others including members of the National Council of Churches USA. We are not the ones to whom this document is addressed. It is addressed to Catholics. Some of these questions may not come from the United States but nonetheless we are reading the answers along with those around the world.

Each of the five questions concerns teachings of the Second Vatican Council: 1) Did the Second Vatican Council change the Catholic doctrine on the Church? 2) What is the meaning of the affirmation that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church? 3) Why was the expression 'subsists in' adopted instead of the simple word 'is'? 4) Why does the Second Vatican Council use the term 'Church' in reference to the oriental Churches separated from full communion with the Catholic Church? 5) Why do the texts of the Council and those of the Magisterium since the Council not use the title of 'Church' with regard to those Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century?

The issue that is at the center of these five questions is the nature of the Church. This document acknowledges there are numerous elements of sanctification and truth outside the Catholic Church and those institutions have been used by the spirit of Christ as instruments of salvation.

For some non-Catholics, as an example, some Protestant communities say, while there are some Christians within the Catholic Church, they are being saved despite the Catholic Church. Yet other Protestant communities would ask, has the spirit of Christ used this institution as an instrument of salvation? If the answer is yes, then they must be a real church.

From the Catholic point of view the differences with the separated churches of the East around understanding the ministry of the Bishop of Rome is so important to Catholics. They view the Orthodox lack of acknowledgment of the primacy of the Pope as a defect from Roman Catholic interpretation. From an Orthodox point of view there is more of a defect in the Roman Catholic Church.

This statement is responding only to some very specific questions about the Catholic doctrinal position on some Christian churches and is not a blanket statement on all non-Catholics. The statement does not address, for example, Old Catholic churches, Pentecostal churches, or the Salvation Army, about whose status new question were not asked.

The Vatican clarification is only stating their own doctrine from their point of view. There are ways in which the Catholic Church understands the Church differently than those churches born out of the sixteenth century Reformation. Rome is certainly not saying the door is closed on ecumenical dialogue. But we see there is still a lot more to talk about. There is more to discuss.

George Lindbeck, a Lutheran theologian in the U.S., talks in his book, 'The Nature of Doctrine,' about the problem that we find in ecumenical circles. He says every word and phrase refers to that particular doctrinal heritage and must be viewed in that way. In the ecumenical dialogue we still often find we don't have the capacity to fully understand the pre-understandings and doctrinal heritage of the partner. The document, written for Catholics and their particular understanding, may seem odd to those who are not Catholic and do not understand Catholic thought from within.

Even though this was written for Catholic theologians it affords us all an opportunity for more dialogue and more insight. This reaffirms that the ecumenical nature and purpose of the Second Vatican Council is still very much alive within and outside Catholic circles.



Click here to return to homepage

By Georges Lemopoulos, WCC Deputy General Secretary

"Each church is the Church catholic and not simply a part of it. Each church is the Church catholic, but not the whole of it. Each church fulfils its catholicity when it is in communion with the other churches."

This affirmation, made by the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), which met in Porto Alegre Brazil in February 2006, reflects the common struggle of the 347 WCC member churches in fellowship as they seek to make visible their unity in Christ.

To recall this statement, contained in the document "Called to be the One Church: An invitation to the churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue", seems appropriate in view of the "Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the doctrine of the church" issued by the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith today.

The WCC's 9th Assembly affirmed "the progress made in the ecumenical movement," and encouraged the fellowship of member churches "to continue on this arduous yet joyous path, trusting in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose grace transforms our struggles for unity into the fruits of communion".

According to the Assembly, "the honest sharing of commonalities, divergence s, and differences will help all churches to pursue the things that make for peace and build up the common life".

As was stated in 2000, when the declaration Dominus Iesus was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the World Council of Churches (WCC) affirms the importance of genuine ecumenical dialogue, and of common Christian witness on the problems facing the world today.




Click here to return to homepage

By Luigi Sandri and Stephen Brown

A new document authorised by Pope Benedict XVI restating Roman Catholic views that Protestant denominations are not churches "in the proper sense" has been criticised as setting back the quest for Christian unity. "An exclusive claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ, as we read in the statement ... goes against the spirit of our Christian calling towards oneness in Christ," said the Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the Geneva-based World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The alliance groups 214 churches with roots in the 16th century Protestant Reformation.

Nyomi made his comments in a letter to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's top official for promoting Christian unity, following the 10 July release in Rome of the Vatican document, which sets down questions and answers about the doctrine of the church.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the document had been produced to correct, "erroneous interpretations which in turn give rise to confusion and doubt".

The document says that Protestant denominations of the Reformation "have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery [and] cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense".

In his letter to Cardinal Kasper, Nyomi said of the document, "It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the Reformed family and other families of the church. It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity."

Also in Geneva, in a response that some observers said could indicate displeasure with the latest development, the World Council of Churches spoke of "the importance of genuine ecumenical dialogue, and of common Christian witness on the problems facing the world today".

The WCC groups 347 churches, mainly from Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox traditions. The Catholic Church is not a member but has representatives on some WCC bodies.

Using the term "catholic" in the sense of "universal", the WCC stated, "Each church is the Church catholic and not simply a part of it. Each church is the Church catholic, but not the whole of it. Each church fulfils its catholicity when it is in communion with the other churches."

In Paris, the Protestant Federation of France said it hoped that every church, "including the Roman Catholic Church", would seek ways to promote dialogue, "rather than being content with repeating its own convictions".

Still, French Lutheran theologian André Birmelé said, "It's much ado about nothing. The text is meant for internal consumption, to reassure people."

In Rome, Italian Protestant theologian Paolo Ricca, however, questioned whether it still made sense to engage in dialogue with the Catholic Church.

"The Vatican document is very clear: it's the old doctrine of the return to the fold," Ricca told Ecumenical News International. "At this point we can ask ourselves if it makes sense to continue the dialogue with Rome. With many Catholics, yes, but with the Roman institution maybe not," he said.

The Vatican said Pope Benedict had "ratified and confirmed" the document.

In 2005, immediately after his election as pontiff, Benedict said he was "disposed to do all in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism".

However, with the latest document, "Hopes for a change in the ecumenical situation have again been pushed into the remote future," said Wolfgang Huber, Germany's top Protestant bishop.

Huber noted that the latest statements repeated those contained in a Vatican declaration from 2000, called "Dominus Iesus", and drawn up by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope in 2005.

Some ecumenically-minded theologians had later suggested that "Dominus Iesus" was a result of carelessness, said Huber, who heads the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). "No one can speak any more of carelessness," said Huber. "This is a premeditated act."

ENI
Click here to return to homepage

(UCAN) Representatives of three major Christian traditions have called for joint responses to Asia's social, political and religious realities to advance continental Christian unity.

Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical delegates reached this agreement during the fourth Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU IV), held June 12-14 in Kuala Lumpur.

The 24 participants represented the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia (EFA) and the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC).

The CCA and FABC previously collaborated on AMCU events in Hong Kong (1995), Bali, Indonesia (1997), and Chiang Mai, Thailand (2001). The EFA become involved in the fourth AMCU seminar following the Asian chapter of the Global Christian Forum, held Sept. 20-22, 2006, in Bangkok.

For about half the seminar, participants shared personal faith experiences and spoke of encounters with other Christians in their native lands: Bangladesh, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

In addressing the seminar's theme, Our Common Witness in Contemporary Asia, they agreed to respect Asia's religious and cultural plurality, and concretize a united Christian response to injustice and discrimination.

Christian commitment, they asserted, should compel Asia's Christian Churches to oppose discrimination as incompatible with the Gospel. They cited discrimination by caste, class, race and gender as examples. God's message to humanity, the Christian leaders said, affirms the equal dignity of all and condemns whatever oppresses and discriminates.

Meanwhile, they said, Asian Christians need to deepen awareness of sinful structures within their own communities through self-examination and self-criticism. They also insisted that Christians must oppose injustice and exploitation not just when they are victims, but also when the victims are not Christian but the perpetrators are.

According to participants, Gospel-based Christian witness should serve the most vulnerable: victims of natural calamities, oppressive regimes and all forms of degradation. It should also confront global warming and environmental concerns.

Given Asian religious multiplicity, participants defined a common Christian witness. Faith in Jesus Christ, they said, must be proclaimed with full respect for others. True Christian witness should never disparage others' faith. Christians should see faith in Christ as liberation from sinful practices and a free, joyful response to God's grace.

The seminar called on the CCA, EFA and FABC to address certain concerns together. One such challenge they identified is to help young Christians commit to building Christian unity. Another is to develop parishes and pastors as focal points for further Christian unity.

The seminar urged the three bodies to promote Christian unity through further discussion, and by inviting one another to their respective assemblies and plenary sessions. The three also could further develop joint projects such as the Asia Conference for Theological Students and the Congress of Asian Theologians. Other possibilities include jointly sponsoring Christian unity summer camps for young people and cooperating on joint actions at the local and national levels.

Participants proposed that the next Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU V) seminar take place in mid-2009.

Souce: UCAN
Click here to return to homepage

In the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, and the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox for Theological Dialogue

Your All-Holiness, Your Eminences, dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

The dialogue between the Anglican and Orthodox families of churches is not a new thing. Only last year, we saw the publication of a fine collection of essays to mark the 300th anniversary of the short-lived but significant experiment of a 'Greek College' in Oxford; and the wide-ranging scholarship of the late Judith Pinnington gave us recently a comprehensive and quite challenging overview of some of the questionsthat had arisen for both ecclesial families in the course of theirrelationship over the centuries.

We have always had an instinct that at root, despite many superficialdifferences, our understandings of the Church of God have grown on thesame soil. We have looked to the definitive moments of doctrinal history, in the early centuries of the Church, for our standards of faith and worship, recognising that the creeds and definitions of the Councils lay out for us a field large enough for the freedom of mind and spirit to flourish in the way God intends. We have striven to remainfocused on these great central themes - of the revelation of theThreefold Godhead, and the inseparable yet distinct life of divinity and humanity in the one Person of the Eternal Son, in communion with whom through the Spirit we pray, act and love in the life of the Church.

In the last century especially, Anglicans have become more and more aware of the theological and spiritual resources of their brothers andsisters in the East; it is not too much to say that both the thinking and the piety of Anglicans would have been unrecognizably different without this growing and thankful awareness; and many of the ways in which we as Anglicans now seek a way forward for the unity and coherence of our own Communion have been shaped by the inspiration of theChristian East.

But in the last seventeen years, this instinct of common emphasis and purpose has been probed and tested at a new depth in the work of our International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue.

The Commission has not sought to negotiate an agreed position between rival views; it has begun from first principles, reflecting at length on the foundations of the Church in the triune life of God and the interpenetration of divine and human nature in the incarnate Son, andhas advanced from there to offer a fresh perspective on the challenges that we face today - within the Church itself and in relation to the world that is hungry for words of life from us. It is a document that seeks unashamedly to lay out the foundation for proclaiming good news to our world: a bold and inviting vision of God's will for his Church thatis more than just the record of an ecumenical encounter.

It reflects many dimensions of our indebtedness to the Orthodox theological perspective; and you, Your All-Holiness, have yourself beena powerful spokesman in East and West for many of the themes that come into focus here. You have taught us, as no other global church leaderhas, the imperative significance of a moral and spiritual understandingof our material environment as the natural outworking of our faith and participation in the communion of the divine persons. You have witnessed to the difficult task of holding diverse Christian communities together in charity and right doctrine without the sanctions of centralised control. And in this connection we are all sharply aware of how your leadership and witness is exercised in local circumstances of real difficulty and constraint. We wish to assure you of our strong support for you and your fellow - Christians in Istanbul and our continuing gratitude for your courage and clarity as a voice in the Orthodox world and in the Christian world in general.

So it is with the warmest sentiments that we greet you on this historic occasion, as a welcome guest in Great Britain, a welcome guest of theChurch of England, and a welcome guest in Lambeth Palace. We have seen, through the work of our Commission, a great harvest of God's goodness to us all; and we pray that on these foundations we may continue to labourfor that lasting and visible reconciliation between Christian believers that is Our Lord's will, and to labour together to show Christ to the world - Christ who, to take the words of the Epiphany kontakion, hascome, who is manifest, who is the Light Inaccessible.

+ Rowan Cantuar:

Lambeth Palace

The following is an interview with Monsignor John Radano, an official observer from the Roman Catholic Church at meetings of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee.

Monsignor Radano is the head of the Western Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and the principal liaison person between the Vatican and the WCC's Faith and Order Commission. Radano comments in this interview on the first meeting of the new WCC central committee.

The interview was conducted last September by Juan Michel, WCC media relations officer and member of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

- What is your assessment of this first meeting of the new WCC central committee?
It has been a good meeting, with a very positive spirit. Delegates came to know each other for the first time, and as one of them said, they realized that they are part of a larger family.

One of the main areas of work has been the reshaping of the WCC programmatic work. And I believe that all the historical areas of concern of the Council are there: mission, justice and social issues, Faith and Order. This meeting has done a great deal of work in terms of shaping the programmes, and now the WCC will put its efforts into working to better promote those concerns.

Now we have to wait and see how the new structure and working style functions. For sure there will be some adjustments to do and improvements will be made along the way. In relation to Faith and Order, this new style might mean that different units have input to offer, and they will certainly learn from each other, but that's not completely new.

- At the last central committee meeting, you said that the consensus methodology allowed a move "from confrontation to dialogue". Do you still think so?

Yes, I maintain my optimism. Consensus is a contribution of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation that has been implemented here for the first time after the 9th Assembly and, as such, it is a good starting point. Perhaps more work needs to be done in terms of how to put it into practice, balancing the available time and the need for lengthy discussions that could take place within the committees. Also in terms of guidance and training of those involved, including those who have the responsibility to moderate.

Now, one of the main challenges of this central committee will be to implement the rest of the Special Commission contributions, like addressing ecclesiological challenges, and the whole area of common prayer. By the way, the Special Commission has been one of the most significant achievements of the Council recently.

- You have mentioned Faith and Order. What is your assessment of its position in the new structure?

Faith and Order is well on track after its Standing Commission meeting, held last June, where the agenda for its work in the coming years was set. At this meeting, that programme was affirmed. For us Catholics, Faith and Order is a very fundamental part of the work done by the WCC. And because it has such a singular importance, since it deals with the basics of our understanding of the faith, we see it as a priority.

- Some may see a confrontation or at least a competition between multilateral ecumenism and bilateral ecumenism. What do you think of that?

Both the multilateral and the bilateral approach are valuable. The Catholic Church is very committed to Faith and Order, as I said. That is a multilateral approach, and within it, we discuss issues like baptism and ecclesiology. But bilateral approaches like the Joint Declaration on Justification, signed by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation, allow for addressing specific issues of concern to two parties.

I see these two approaches as complementary, as long as we are aware that there is one ecumenical movement, which encompasses many voices.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, today held a briefing for journalists on the current state of ecumenism. The event was timed to coincide with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, being held from January 18 to 25.

The meeting, held in the Holy See Press Office, was also attended by Bishop Brian Farrell L.C. and Msgr, Eleuterio F. Fortino, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

Cardinal Kasper affirmed that last year had been particularly fruitful in ecumenical terms, with the Pope's trip to Turkey, during which he signed a joint declaration with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople; and the resumption of work of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.

Currently, one of the main themes is the primacy of Peter, with all the theological, canonical and even emotional problems it brings. "It is necessary to continue to pray and be patient to ensure progress in this area," said the cardinal. "For now, replies have been received from various Churches, and these are being analyzed and discussed."

On the subject of a possible meeting between Benedict XVI and Alexis II, patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Cardinal Kasper indicated that "for the moment nothing concrete has been decided." Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church are improving, close collaboration also exists with various dicasteries of the Roman Curia and various dioceses.

The president of the pontifical council denied that the Holy See has abandoned relations with Protestant communities, describing such rumors as "groundless insinuations." Various ecumenical delegations have been received by the Holy Father and have participated in the Wednesday general audiences.

As for forthcoming ecumenical events, the cardinal mentioned the European ecumenical meeting, due to be held at Sibiu, Romania in September; the plenary of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, due to be held in Ravenna, Italy in 2007, at which it is possible the Pope may be present; and the second ecumenical congress of communities and movements, "Together for Europe," to be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

At the end of his press briefing, Cardinal Kasper presented his new book entitled "A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, guidelines for its implementation," which has just been published in Italian, English and French. It contains practical and pastoral suggestions to strengthen spiritual ecumenism, "which is," the introduction reads, "the soul of the entire ecumenical movement." The book is addressed to everyone involved in ecumenical activities in various dioceses and parishes, although each and every member of the Church is called to make their own contribution, above all through prayer.

by Rev Nicola Bux and Rev Salvatore Vitiello

At the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it would not seem out of place to reflect on what should be an acquired fact in every ecclesial sphere: the clear and unequivocal distinction between ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. A multiplication of initiatives under the heading “time for dialogue”, creates confusion and leads people to confuse dialogue among baptised believers in Christ striving to rediscover catholic unity with dialogue between Christians and followers of other religious traditions. Among the latter an eminent place is given to Judaism and Jewish-Christian dialogue to which a special day is dedicated every year.
This sort of confusion which hides behind and invokes an imaginary “absolute truth”, although never actually specifying who is this truth and above all who incarnated it definitively in history, is to be absolutely avoided. It is born of that “ideology of dialogue” which continues to confuse the means with the goal. Dialogue is not and cannot be a goal, it is a means to be used in all its many aspects, but to be recognised for what it is: the means, not the goal.

The purpose of the Church’s existence can only be evangelisation, frank and convincing proclamation of Jesus of Nazareth Lord and Christ, the only Saviour of all humanity. “Beatified by Benedict XVI, Charles de Foucauld is considered ‘an example of respectful dialogue among religions, an anticipator of Vatican II ’.

Well, this anticipator of Vatican II, who went to live among Muslims to convert them and was killed, translated the Gospel into Tuareg with the following intention: ‘It is not a good idea to teach the Tuareg Arabic which would lead them to the Koran, from which on the contrary they must be kept away. Instead they must be taught Tamershak, an excellent language and very simple, gradually introducing terms indispensable for expressing religious ideas, Christian virtues […].When conversions start coming a catechism in Tamershak will be necessary” (A. Gnocchi-M.Palmaro, Contro il logorio del laicismo moderno, Casale M. 2006, p 106).

May then the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity be an important occasion to rediscover with unequivocal clarity and fidelity to Jesus Christ, Christ centred faith without which there can be no authentic encounter, since precisely the Lord Jesus is the one and only “place” the one and only possible “reason-logos” of encounter.

Dialogue as Joseph Ratzinger says more than once in his “Fede, Verità, Tolleranza”, must always be “dialogue of truth”: a realistic human effort, assisted by the Holy Spirit when the dialoguer is baptised, to seek and above all accept a truth which, in the case of Jesus Christ, is not constructed by man, it is given, like every fundamental element of reality.

A Christ-centred faith which accepts the person of Jesus Christ according to the totality of the factors which constitute this person, cannot fail to have a positive effect also on ecclesiological conceptions, which, free and freed of factious or party logic, restore to the Church her true identity: divine presence in the world.
May the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians be an opportunity to rediscover common belonging, also affective, to the Jesus of history and the Christ of our faith, who are the one and the same Christ the Lord. Only this awareness will give all Christians the missionary spirit of which Europe and the world today have such great need, offering witness which will touch and edify other religious traditions.

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides)

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - “Christ illuminates us all” is the title of a Message addressed to all Christians in Spain by the Catholic Bishops Conference in view of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In the message the Bishops say “All the main ecclesial communities today aspire to recognise one another as "sister churches", and we must do our best to hasten the time when all Christian Churches recognise each other as one communion in faith and one ecclesial reality”. The message is issued by the Bishops’ Commission for Inter-confessional Relations.
“We must not be discouraged although the path is still long” the Bishops write, recalling that to achieve this unity it is necessary to be guided by the Holy Spirit in every moment of history. "We will move forward to unity - the message says - of Christians are united in the mission entrusted by Christ: the evangelisation of the world".

Mentioning the 3rd Ecumenical Meeting of European Churches in Rumania in September this year with the theme "Christ the light who illuminate us all, hope for renewal and unity in Europe", the Bishops express the hope that the meeting will be "an experience of grace to intensify communion among the Churches of Europe and greater efforts for new evangelisation" to help the Christians of Europe face the common challenges of the present day: “so that Christ may continue to illuminate the life of the peoples who have met Him and have walked in His light."

The Bishops remark on the happy encounter between Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Pope’s recent visit to Turkey, which “intensified communion among Catholics and Orthodox Christians and will surely foster deeper communion among all Christians". They say they hope the fruits of this dialogue will "lead these two great Churches back to the communion shared in the first millennium of Christianity ".

The Spanish Bishops conclude by underlining that the path to unity is holiness: "Ecumenism of Holiness is the most effective of all. Only through obedience to the will of the Father the action of Christians in the world will bear fruit".