Ecumenism And Interreligious Dialogue: Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate (REDISCOVERING VATICAN II) by Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy. In Scholastic tradition, it was said that sacraments administered by the excommunicated were valid and efficacious, but did not confer grace, except by Baptism in case of necessity. Thus the Apostle says that all who have been baptized have put on Christ and are one in Christ Jesus. When proposing specific actions to implement principles of ecumenism, the Council ranks first and foremost those which pertain to Church renewal. The purpose of ecumenism is to bring all Christians to the one faith, so we must try to overcome verbal and conceptual obstacles to assenting to the faith. All future pastors and priests are expected to master a theology that has been carefully worked out in this way and not polemically… (UR, 10) This recommendation is not a call to change the content of Catholic theology, but to alter its tone and to include more accurate representation of the perspectives of other Christians. These developments from the document on ecumenism are also a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a sign of the new Pentecost that was prayed for. However, Pope Leo XIII confirmed in Apostolicae Curae (1896) that Anglican orders are invalid, due to defects in intent and form resulting from a denial of the sacerdotal power of the priesthood. Upholding the established principle that no burden beyond what is essential should be imposed, the Council desires that: Only vague prescriptions are given for ecumenical relations with the Orthodox, since this decree is just a presentation of the Council’s general outlook on ecumenism, not a policy paper. The phenomenon of formalism already began in antiquity once the creative phase of the great dogmas ended. The Church on earth is governed by a visible hierarchy, headed by the successor of Peter, who has universal jurisdiction over all the faithful. John E. Rotelle (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2007), p. 420. Thus it is something already perfectly guaranteed by Christ, and not something that can admit of any defect or deficiency. Again, as with the increase in unity, we have an apparent paradox. He led Peter to the home of the centurion Cornelius and made him witness the coming of the Spirit on those in attendance with the same manifestations that the apostles had experienced at Pentecost: they spoke in tongues and glorified God with loud voices. If the unity of the disciples should be a reflection of the unity between the Father and the Son, it should be above all a unity of love, because that is the unity that reigns in the Trinity. Whence it follows that whatever blessings are found among other Christians are received through the Catholic Church, which contains the rightful successors of Peter and the apostles. Filed under: Reflections | Leave a Comment. In the description of medieval battles, there is always a point at which, after the archers, the cavalry, and all the rest of the army had been overcome, the fight was focused on the king. The Council would not say this if it conceived of the Church as some composite of all the various Christian denominations. (UR, 22) The goal of ecumenism is to perfect the unity of the Church, so the points of disagreement are not to be swept aside, but on the contrary are precisely the issues that need to be worked out. The Council does not specify exactly how the formulation of doctrine is distinct from the deposit of faith. Edmund Hill, The Works of Saint Augustine, Part 3, vol. This leaves the vast mass of the rest of Protestantism, which is composed only of ecclesial Communities. Seeds of Unity: On the 50th Anniversary of the issuing of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, 2014) Download PDF Nostra Aetate - Anniversary Reflections (ACBC, 2015) What was intended to be a demonstration “for” Jesus became a powerful demonstration “of” Jesus. Enjoy this reflection on John 17:20–26, the Gospel reading from yesterday’s Mass, taken from The Navarre Bible: Saint John’s Gospel. Summary of Unitatis Redintegratio on Shaun McAfee | (The following is a summary of Unitatis Redintegratio, of the Second Vatican Council. This is not to deny that there are Christians outside the visible structure of the Catholic Church, but rather they belong to the one flock to the extent that they are in imperfect communion with the Catholic Church. Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor 4:5). Go back to The Vatican II Revolution 1. Before praying the Angelus, the Holy Father continued his reflections on the documents of the Second Vatican Council with a meditation on the Decree Unitatis redintegratio. Beide Dokumente des Konzils gehören dabei unlösbar zusammen, wie bereits ein Blick in die Geschichte ihrer Entstehung zeigt. Intro Division within the Christian community “openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.” (UR, 1) As such, moving towards unity comes from God and is a great good. This is not to deny the objective superiority of the Catholic Church’s ecclesiastical status or the truth of her doctrine. From that day on, every time I have had the opportunity in my preaching, I have not stopped trying to help brothers and sisters have this experience. In 2009 there was a large demonstration of faith in Stockholm called the “Jesus Manifestation.” On the last day, believers from various churches, each coming from a different street, processed toward the center of the city. It is not a generic term for good relations with people of other religions, which are to be discussed later in Nostra Aetate. Worship in common is not an end in itself, nor is it oriented toward the merely human concerns of making friendly relations and being inoffensive to others. This practical reason is not enough, however, to bring about unity among Christians. They are often not aware of any disobedience to Christ’s Church. 4.Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO . But, can we say that these are the problems today by which the faith of people stands or falls? Now, for the first time, the Council describes what sort of imperfect communion with the Church is attained by separated Christians through baptism. In 1974 there was news that astonished and amused the whole world. Ecumenism is specifically Christian, as it comes from Christ’s wish that all who believe in him should be gathered into one flock. The second point, ecumenical dialogue among experts, is hardly less public, but it only involves relatively few members of the Churches or communities involved. Now, this ecclesiological statement admits of orthodox and heterodox interpretations. 9.See G. L. Prestige, God in Patristic Thought (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008), especially Chapter 13, “The Triumph of Formalism,” pp. Rather, this belief is itself evidence that all Christians yearn to belong to the one visible and truly universal Church of God. Austryn Wainhouse (New York: Knopf, 1971), pp. The Church of God is a historical entity, as shown by this text placing it in concrete history. Share this: Twitter; Facebook; Reddit; Like this: Like Loading... Related. We used as our core documents Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) and Unitatis Redintegratio (Restoration of Unity). Enriching Communion book; One Light One World - readings; Letting God be God - Reformed Spirituality; Challenged by Ecumenism; Papers. These differ not only from the Church’s constitution, but even from each other in fundamental points of ecclesiology, discipline, and doctrine. Once this was understood, it has been possible to restore communion with and among various Eastern churches. (Mk. © 2012 Daniel J. Castellano. This is now the true “articulus stantis et cadentis Ecclesiae,” the article by which the Church stands or falls. (UR, 11) The concern here, as always, is to facilitate dialogue, not to suppress it. Alongside this official and doctrinal ecumenism, an ecumenism of personal encounters and reconciliation of hearts has arisen since the very beginning. Unitatis Redintegratio, no 3 says: ‘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. This does not justify the opposing error of thinking that inviting Christians into full communion with the Church is anti-ecumenical. Yet at the same time the doctrine should be clearly presented in its entirety. Thus such liturgical actions are generally regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation. Earlier popes and councils expressed a similar desire for reunion, without denying traditional Catholic belief about the universal Church. Spiritual ecumenism, which Unitatis redintegratio describes as the “soul of the ecumenical movement”; 2. If we will turn to Christ and go forward together toward him, we Christians will draw closer to each other until we become what he prayed for: to be “one with him and with the Father” (see Jn 17:9). Only recently, for example, has it been understood that the divisions at the heart of the Christian East between Chalcedonian Churches and the so-called Monophysite or Nestorian Churches were based on formulas and on the different meanings given to the words ousia and hypostasis that do not affect the substance of the doctrine. The title in Latin means "Restoration of Unity" and is from the first line of the decree, as is customary with major Catholic documents (see incipitLatin means What does it mean for the Church’s unity to increase? Chapter I – Catholic Principles on Ecumenism Council of Florence, Session VIII) These long acknowledged truths are pregnant with paradox, as they imply that those Christians visibly separated from the Catholic Church are nonetheless joined to her in a real way. Before praying the Angelus, the Holy Father continued his reflections on the documents of the Second Vatican Council with a meditation on the Decree Unitatis redintegratio. Yet, for the separated Christians, it is possible for unity to increase even in degree. This withholding of grace was due to the sin of receiving a sacrament against the Church’s prohibition. There are Christians on both sides who need to be convinced that the war is over. . The word translated as increase is crescere, literally, to grow. The purpose of such dialogue is to gain a greater appreciation of the other’s perspective, so the obstacles to unity are more accurately perceived. Unitatis Redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism) is a document under Vatican 2 Council, where it aims to give clarification on the Catholic Church perspective regarding Ecumenism. 9:38) All good works, great or small, done in Christ’s name, are in favor of Christ and His Church. Unitatis Redintegratio: The Decree on Ecumenism. poration in the Church, of ecclesial communion, or of the reality of Church itself, became, in Unitatis redintegratio, the cardinal principle of a Catholic theology of ecumenism» (Fr. Most authorities date the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement to the Edinburgh (Scotland) World Missionary Conference of 1910. 1. - Unitatis Redintegratio, 21 Nov 1964 This outstanding decree of the Second Vatican Council has laid down upon us some major Catholic Principles and its Practice on Ecumenism that has an everlasting effect in the Church’s life and journey towards full communion with the “separated Churches and communities” or our “separated brethren”, as the ecumenical council calls them. 1, a. Even the most Catholic of these communities, that of the Anglicans, is characterized solely as a Communion. The new vademecum is based on John Paul’s teaching in Ut unum sint; Vatican II’s decree on ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio; and two documents produced by the Pontifical Council: the Directory for the Application of the Principles and Norms of Ecumenism (1993), and The Ecumenical Dimension in the Formation of those Engaged in Pastoral Work. Jean-Paul Sartre, coming from a philosophical point of view, reached the same conclusion. Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, 1964-2014 (2014) The baptized are really incorporated into the Church on some level, and so by the same token the Church has a responsibility for all Christians. 5). With this broadmindedness, Catholics better express the universality of the Church, admitting diversity in spiritual life, discipline, liturgy, and even in their theological elaborations of revealed truth. In the Latin text, it is clear that ‘unity’ and not ‘Catholic Church’ is the antecedent of that which is to be increased. In a conference held at the Center for Unity in Rome, Cardinal Walter Kasper correctly observed that while the number one existential problem for Luther was how to overcome a sense of guilt and find a gracious God, today the problem is instead the contrary: how to restore to people today the true meaning of sin since they have entirely forgotten it. We can, however, forge ahead in charity and already be fully united right now. Our small group of Catholics led by their local bishop also processed down a street praying. See all 5 positive reviews › GMak. The three divine persons are united in their very being, not because they jointly operate whatever they do “ad extra”. The immediate purpose of such dialogue is not to convert the other party, but at least to persuade them of one’s reasonableness and good will, as well as to highlight shared values, in order to facilitate working for common goals. With good reason, then, Cardinal Schönborn says: Cardinal Schönborn’s reference to degrees of certainty alludes to the traditional distinctions (expressed for example in Ludwig Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma) in the level of certainty with which a doctrine has been defined. During the early Reformation, most dissenters at first sought to preserve something of the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church. All de fide dogmas, as well as those doctrines that are fides ecclesiastica (defined by the extraordinary magisterium, but not of divine revelation; e.g., dogmatic facts), are infallibly certain. In the 19th-century, when Catholic movements of spiritual renewal existed in many places, we already find groups praying for the … Yet those who, in good faith, are estranged from the hierarchical Church and ignorant of their duties, might receive some benefit from baptism followed by a life of faith, though do not receive the full benefit of baptism, which is full unity in Christ’s Church. Ecumenism, then, takes on the character of an imperative to obey Christ’s will and bring all Christians into catholic unity. It retains the original chapter and numbering according to the actual ordered sections of the document.) . (LG, 8) The Council does not repeat the teaching here, for it has already declared its teaching on the Church. Full text of Unitatis Redintegratio. How does Amazon calculate star ratings? Finally, it highlights the renewal impulses present in numbers 11 and 17 of the Unitatis redintegratio decree. Modern societies are built upon science. By this standard, all human formulations of doctrine are deficient, since our concepts are only imperfect images of the realities they represent, and so there may be some aspects of reality that they ignore or de-emphasize. There is no hint that any doctrine of the Church should be hidden or obscured from the view of non-Catholics. In that view, the quotation above would be misinterpreted to mean that the separated Christians receive their gifts by virtue of belonging to some mystical, invisible Church of Christ that is united only on a spiritual plane, and they have no need of the Catholic Church. Although the various types of Christians are all born again into one body by baptism, they still lack the unity that Christ willed for all believers, but is only realized in the Catholic Church. Intro Division within the Christian community “openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.” (UR, 1) As such, moving towards unity comes from God and is a great good. It will only prove to them that the Catholics are inconstant in their teaching, and thus the Catholic Church does not preserve the fullness of faith. In this way, the Council plainly acknowledges that separated Christians are still bound to the Church, and Christ is among them by virtue of that bond. The definition of the Church as “the chaste harlot” (casta meretrix) and as “holy and always in need of being purified” (see Lumen gentium, 8) has been part of the Catholic tradition since the time of the Fathers. I believe something similar has happened among Christians. Among the renewal activities oriented toward ecumenism, the Council enumerates: Biblical and liturgical movements, the preaching of the word of God and catechetics, the apostolate of the laity, new forms of religious life and the spirituality of married life, and the Church’s social teaching and activity… (UR, 6) Reforms in these areas had already taken place in the years preceding the Council, and these are pledges and signs of the future progress of ecumenism. During Lent last year, I tried to show the results of the ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox East on the theological level. Not even the Lutheran formula “Simul iustus et peccator,” “at the same time righteous and sinner,” is a real hurdle to communion. The heterodox interpretation, explicitly rejected in Article 8 of Lumen Gentium, is that the visible, hierarchical Catholic Church and the heavenly Church of Christ are two distinct entities. The world has forgotten, or have never known, its Savior, the one who is the light of the world, the way, the truth, and the life, so how can we waste time arguing among ourselves? Most authorities date the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement to the Edinburgh (Scotland) World Missionary Conference of 1910. (John 17: 21) Through the Eucharist, the unity of His Church is both signified and made a reality. To participate in the fullness of Catholic unity, it is necessary to accept the faith whole and entire. They are perceived not as opposing or moving away from the Catholic Church, but as being raised in a state of imperfect communion they did not create. The Council first appeals to those Christians who confess faith in Jesus Christ as God and Lord and as the sole Mediator between God and men, to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Unitatis Redintegratio. 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