INTRODUCTION
The Catholic Church committed herself to ecumenical dialogue during the Second Vatican council with the aim of fulfilling the prayer of Jesus Christ “That they may be one” (John 17:21) hence Pope John Paul II says it is his earnest desires to renew this call to unity with this Encyclical “UT UNUM SINT” Of May 25th 1995. Like many encyclicals, he derives its title from the first few words, which was taken from the prayer of Jesus. Christians cannot underestimate the burden of long-standing misgiving inherited from the past, and of mutual misunderstanding and prejudices. Complacency, indifference and insufficient knowledge of one another often make this situation worst. As such the ecumenical dialogue must be based on conversion of heart and prayer, which will lead to purification of memories. The ultimate goal of the ecumenical movement is to re-establish full visible unity among all the baptized, basically the encyclical deals with the Roman Catholic Church’s relations with the Orthodox Church and other Christian ecclesial communities. In this three chapter document with an introduction and exhortation, John Paul II shows that the Roman Catholic Church is officially moved to unity.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S COMMITMENT TO ECUMENISM
The Catholic Church embarked on the call for Christian unity as a duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love. It becomes pivotal to call for unity because division openly contradicts the will of Christ, and makes the work of proclaiming the one message of Christ, the good news to every creature difficult.
This unity that is guided by the Holy Spirit is not just a gathering of individuals, rather it is a unity constituted by the bounds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, and hierarchical communion. God is the biding force, hence for the Catholic Church; the communion of Christians is none other than the manifestation of the grace by which God makes them share in his own communion which is eternal.
It is of great importance to mention that the Second Vatican Council states that the Church of Christ “subsists in the catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of peter and by the bishops who remain in communion with him. However, one can still find elements of sanctification and truth outside her visible structure. This statement is a clear indication that the Church is indeed open to ecumenical dialogue. In contrast to the ancient opinion of Cyprian that: “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” Cyprian maintains that “one cannot have God for his Father when one does not have the church for his Mother.” Cyprian completely spoke of the Church as sacrament and thus maintains that the church of God is above defilement and violation. In his work “On the Unity of the Catholic Church” he opines that:
“The bride of Christ cannot be defiled. She is inviolate and chaste. She knows one home only in all honesty; she keeps faithfully to one chamber. It is she who preserves us for God, she who seals for the Kingdom the sons born to her. Whoever breaks with the church and enters on an adulterous union cuts himself off from the promises made to the church. He who turns his back on the Church of Christ will not come to the rewards of Christ; he is alien, a wording, and an enemy. You cannot have God for your Father if you no longer have the church for your Mother.”
In John Paul’s opinion the objective basis of the communion is the element of sanctification and truth that is found in other Christian communities. Though this communion according to the Second Vatican Council is imperfect, the Dogmatic Constitution asserts that “in many ways the Catholic Church is linked with other ecclesia communities in the Holy Spirit.
The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in the entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. Hence, 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. (Unitatis Redintegratio no.11)
THE FRUITS OF DIALOGUE
In the past thirty years the fruit of ecumenical dialogue is visible and appreciated in many of the ecumenical celebrations that took place in and outside the shores of Rome, it is indisputable that the universal brotherhood of Christians has become a firm ecumenical conviction. Today we speak of other Christians not in terms of separated brethren but as Churches and Ecclesial communities that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Such inclusive language in my own opinion will create a better grand for ecumenical discussion and deepen the awareness that we all belong to Christ through baptism under the same umbrella of Christ followers.
Another prominent fruit of this dialogue is the fact that Christian communities join together in the positive service to humanity, this is because one of the task of Christianity is to safeguard human existence which is created in the image and lankness of God as such the Church promotes Justice, peace and the positive future of the world. Again, a valuable result of the contact between Christian and of the theological dialogue in which they engage is the growth of communion, both parties are more sensitized on the matters of faith they have in common.
There is a hierarchical progression in the ecumenical dialogue as I observe, the Pope place above all, our sister church from the Patriarchal Churches. According to him, the church’s journey began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and its original expansion in the oikoumene of that time was centered on Peter and the eleven. Hence, the unity we clamor for is that unity that existed in the first millennium where all were in communion with the bishop of Rome. There is also a progress in the fraternal relation with the ancient Churches of the East which rejected the dogmatic formulations of the council of Ephesus and Chalcedon. And lastly, the Church wishes to create a climate of Christian fraternity and dialogue with the Churches and Ecclesial Communities of the West with guidelines that are historical, psychological, theological and doctrinal in nature. The churches with roots in the reformation Church came first in this dialogue this is because of long time history.
QUANTA EST NOBIS VIA?
What is the future direction? How much further do we need to struggle in anticipation of a unity where all the baptized can celebrate the Holy Eucharist of the Lord in peace. We need to go beyond our present achievement based on the basis of a certain fundamental doctrinal unity on Baptism, Eucharist, ministry and authority, to a visible unity which is manifested in a real and concrete way so that the Church may truly be a sign of that full communion in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church which will be expressed in the common celebration of the Eucharist. To reach a true consensus of faith, the following areas must be addressed:
• The relationship between the Scripture and the sacred tradition
• The Eucharist
• Ordination
• The magisterium of the Church
• The Virgin Mary as Mother of God and Icon of the Church
Finally, the Catholic Church is conscious that she has preserved the ministry of the successor of the Apostle Peter, the bishop of Rome, whom God established as her perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity. The bishop of Rome must ensure the communion of all the Churches, for this reason he is the first servant of unity. Hence the communion of the particular Churches with the Church of Rome is in God’s plan.
CONCLUSION
This view of union or unity of the Church and the faithful in the Church was supported by Michael Schmaus. For he declares that “the Church is a union of men who are bound together through the confession of the Christian faith and through participation in the same sacraments under the guidance of legitimate pastors, above all of one vicar of Christ on earth, the Supreme Pontiff.” The Church’s documents really acknowledge that it is possible to build the Ecclesia edifice where all will be one. This, the CBCN deem necessary when it tries to build her Church with the coming together of Churches in Nigeria to form CAN . But to what extent has this been realized?
The Catholic Church embarked on the call for Christian unity as a duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love. It becomes pivotal to call for unity because division openly contradicts the will of Christ, and makes the work of proclaiming the one message of Christ, the good news to every creature difficult.
This unity that is guided by the Holy Spirit is not just a gathering of individuals, rather it is a unity constituted by the bounds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, and hierarchical communion. God is the biding force, hence for the Catholic Church; the communion of Christians is none other than the manifestation of the grace by which God makes them share in his own communion which is eternal.
It is of great importance to mention that the Second Vatican Council states that the Church of Christ “subsists in the catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of peter and by the bishops who remain in communion with him. However, one can still find elements of sanctification and truth outside her visible structure. This statement is a clear indication that the Church is indeed open to ecumenical dialogue. In contrast to the ancient opinion of Cyprian that: “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” Cyprian maintains that “one cannot have God for his Father when one does not have the church for his Mother.” Cyprian completely spoke of the Church as sacrament and thus maintains that the church of God is above defilement and violation. In his work “On the Unity of the Catholic Church” he opines that:
“The bride of Christ cannot be defiled. She is inviolate and chaste. She knows one home only in all honesty; she keeps faithfully to one chamber. It is she who preserves us for God, she who seals for the Kingdom the sons born to her. Whoever breaks with the church and enters on an adulterous union cuts himself off from the promises made to the church. He who turns his back on the Church of Christ will not come to the rewards of Christ; he is alien, a wording, and an enemy. You cannot have God for your Father if you no longer have the church for your Mother.”
In John Paul’s opinion the objective basis of the communion is the element of sanctification and truth that is found in other Christian communities. Though this communion according to the Second Vatican Council is imperfect, the Dogmatic Constitution asserts that “in many ways the Catholic Church is linked with other ecclesia communities in the Holy Spirit.
The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in the entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. Hence, 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. (Unitatis Redintegratio no.11)
THE FRUITS OF DIALOGUE
In the past thirty years the fruit of ecumenical dialogue is visible and appreciated in many of the ecumenical celebrations that took place in and outside the shores of Rome, it is indisputable that the universal brotherhood of Christians has become a firm ecumenical conviction. Today we speak of other Christians not in terms of separated brethren but as Churches and Ecclesial communities that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Such inclusive language in my own opinion will create a better grand for ecumenical discussion and deepen the awareness that we all belong to Christ through baptism under the same umbrella of Christ followers.
Another prominent fruit of this dialogue is the fact that Christian communities join together in the positive service to humanity, this is because one of the task of Christianity is to safeguard human existence which is created in the image and lankness of God as such the Church promotes Justice, peace and the positive future of the world. Again, a valuable result of the contact between Christian and of the theological dialogue in which they engage is the growth of communion, both parties are more sensitized on the matters of faith they have in common.
There is a hierarchical progression in the ecumenical dialogue as I observe, the Pope place above all, our sister church from the Patriarchal Churches. According to him, the church’s journey began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and its original expansion in the oikoumene of that time was centered on Peter and the eleven. Hence, the unity we clamor for is that unity that existed in the first millennium where all were in communion with the bishop of Rome. There is also a progress in the fraternal relation with the ancient Churches of the East which rejected the dogmatic formulations of the council of Ephesus and Chalcedon. And lastly, the Church wishes to create a climate of Christian fraternity and dialogue with the Churches and Ecclesial Communities of the West with guidelines that are historical, psychological, theological and doctrinal in nature. The churches with roots in the reformation Church came first in this dialogue this is because of long time history.
QUANTA EST NOBIS VIA?
What is the future direction? How much further do we need to struggle in anticipation of a unity where all the baptized can celebrate the Holy Eucharist of the Lord in peace. We need to go beyond our present achievement based on the basis of a certain fundamental doctrinal unity on Baptism, Eucharist, ministry and authority, to a visible unity which is manifested in a real and concrete way so that the Church may truly be a sign of that full communion in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church which will be expressed in the common celebration of the Eucharist. To reach a true consensus of faith, the following areas must be addressed:
• The relationship between the Scripture and the sacred tradition
• The Eucharist
• Ordination
• The magisterium of the Church
• The Virgin Mary as Mother of God and Icon of the Church
Finally, the Catholic Church is conscious that she has preserved the ministry of the successor of the Apostle Peter, the bishop of Rome, whom God established as her perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity. The bishop of Rome must ensure the communion of all the Churches, for this reason he is the first servant of unity. Hence the communion of the particular Churches with the Church of Rome is in God’s plan.
CONCLUSION
This view of union or unity of the Church and the faithful in the Church was supported by Michael Schmaus. For he declares that “the Church is a union of men who are bound together through the confession of the Christian faith and through participation in the same sacraments under the guidance of legitimate pastors, above all of one vicar of Christ on earth, the Supreme Pontiff.” The Church’s documents really acknowledge that it is possible to build the Ecclesia edifice where all will be one. This, the CBCN deem necessary when it tries to build her Church with the coming together of Churches in Nigeria to form CAN . But to what extent has this been realized?
Rev Fr Lawrence Ogundipe sdv
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