The Pope of Christian Unity Connects New Evangelization and Healing the Divisions in the Body of Christ. Do We

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/16/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The Pope made clear that the goal of authentic ecumenism is the visible unity between divided Christians

Unity is on the one hand the fruit of faith and, on the other, a means - almost a prerequisite - for an increasingly credible proclamation of the faith to those who do not yet know the Savior or who, while having received the proclamation of the Gospel, have almost forgotten this valuable gift.

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VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity gathered in Rome this week to consider the connection between the New Evangelization and authentic ecumenism. The Pope of Christian Unity, Benedict XVI, gave the following insights:

"We cannot follow a truly ecumenical path while ignoring the crisis of faith affecting vast areas of the world, including those where the proclamation of the Gospel was first accepted and where Christian life has flourished for centuries.

"On the other hand, we cannot ignore the many signs indicating a persistent need for spirituality, which is made manifest in various ways. The spiritual poverty of many of our contemporaries, who no longer perceive the absence of God in their lives as a form of deprivation, poses a challenge to all Christians".

Then he called those who had gathered to return to the fundamentals of the faith, the encounter with the Risen Jesus Christ noting, "we, believers in Christ, are called upon to return to the essential, to the heart of our faith, to bear witness to the living God before the world."

"We must not forget what it is that unites us: our faith in God the Father and Creator, revealed in His Son Jesus Christ, effusing the Spirit which revives and sanctifies. This is the faith we received in Baptism and it is the faith that, in hope and charity, we can profess together."

"In the light of the primacy of faith we may also understand the importance of the theological dialogues and conversations in which the Catholic Church is engaged with Churches and ecclesial communities."

"Even when we cannot discern the possibility of re-establishing full communion in the near future, such dialogue facilitates our awareness, not only of resistance and obstacles, but also of the richness of experience, spiritual life and theological reflection, which become a stimulus for ever deeper testimony".

The Pope made clear that the goal of authentic ecumenism is the "visible unity between divided Christians."

However, he noted "we must also recognize that, in the final analysis, this unity is a gift from God, and may come to us only from the Father through His Son, because the Church is His Church. From this perspective we see, not only the importance of invoking the Lord for visible unity, but also how striving after this end is relevant to the new evangelization."

"It is good to journey together towards this objective, provided that the Churches and ecclesial communities do not stop along the way, accepting the various contradictions between them as normal or as the best they can hope to achieve. It is, rather, in the full communion of faith, Sacraments and ministry that the strength of God, present and working in the world, will find concrete expression".

Finally, the Pope told those gathered, "Unity is on the one hand the fruit of faith and, on the other, a means - almost a prerequisite - for an increasingly credible proclamation of the faith to those who do not yet know the Savior or who, while having received the proclamation of the Gospel, have almost forgotten this valuable gift."

"True ecumenism, recognizing the primacy of divine action, demands above all patience, humility, and abandonment to the will of the Lord. In the final analysis, ecumenism and new evangelization both require the dynamism of conversion, understood as the sincere desire to follow Christ and to fully adhere to the will of the Father".

Upon his election to the Chair of Peter some observers indicated Pope Benedict's age would make him a "caretaker" Pope. His pace and contributions have demonstrated that those observers were absolutely wrong. He has proven to be an indefatigable and tireless missionary and a treasure to the whole Church.

He is exactly what he said in his self assessment which was given when he began his service, a "simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord" He has written three encyclicals, three apostolic exhortations and two books about Jesus of Nazareth, with the third installment soon to be available.

He is a scholar of the highest order, yet able to communicate with simplicity and beauty, because he is a man of deep prayer; a man in communion with the Risen Lord. He has given continual, deep and spiritually profound teaching to the faithful - including some of the finest hagiography in centuries - during his Wednesday Catechesis.

He made Church history, when Motu Propio, he released the Apostolic Constitution on Groups of Anglicans which began the healing of the divided Western Church. Two Ordinariates have already been formed and more will follow. The fruits of these Ordinariates will be recounted by future historians as among the most important events in the Third Millennium of the Church.

He has earned the great respect of Patriarchs and leaders of the Orthodox Church and is making ...

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Paul-Emile Leray
6 months ago
Very nice. I once asked an American Jesuit (wonderful man) what one sign of being on the right path was and his quiet reply was: harmony. For peace, unity, joy, harmony is important. I will expound, though. It is possible to feel harmonious on some levels and yet not be on the right path. How? Ignorance. If the script is wrong, yet we believe it is right and everyone around us believes it is right, there might be illusions of harmony present even if the ship is way off course. Let me further explain with the following from Abraham Maslow: the normal adjustment of the average, common-sense, well-adjusted implies a continued sucessful rejection of much of the depths of human nature.

Therefore, on some levels the biggest cult of all, it has been said, is what? Culture. What if the culture is half insane? What if the culture is sick? Then the media risks being off track. The politics and laws risk being off track. What I am getting at is that I am very grateful for the Catholic Church and their leaders. Their theologians, their philosophers, and so forth are a blessing. If the culture at large is crazy, then being ostracized and ridiculed is a sign of sanity. (which explains, in part, why so many martyrs existed and continue to do so)

Paul-Emile Leray
Tom McGuire
6 months ago
Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle shared this story in his book, Easter People, Orbis Books, 2005. It speaks to much of what Pope Benedict XVI and Deacon Keith Fournier are saying. His story awakens an emotion in me about where I am. I hope it does the same for all who read it.

“Before returning to the Philippines after studying in the United States, I met a Chinese student from the People’s Republic of China, where he was a student of sociology and economics. He was in Washington, D.C., to attend a conference. While he was at The Catholic University, the Tiananmen Square Massacre happened and he decided not to go home. He found a way for his wife to join him, and they stayed in Washington where he continued his studies. Despite being a non-believer who grew up without belonging to any religion, he was very interested in religions, especially Christianity. When he heard I was going back to the Philippines, he invited me to meet his wife and have sup- per with them.

He mentioned that he was enjoying his stay at the university and I asked if he was learning anything about religion and Christianity. “What is your impression of our faith, our religion?” “You know, your Bible is the most beautiful book I have ever read,” he said. “How about the Christian approach to life? Have you had a chance to reflect on it?” “Yes,” he said, “I have taken courses in Christian ethics, Christian doctrine, and history of Christian dogma.” Then he said, “I think Christianity has solutions to all the problems of the world. If Christianity could only be lived out, all the problems that I see in China could be solved.” And so I asked, “Are you a believer now?” His response was, “Not yet. My mind understands and my mind has decided that what I understand is true; but I still cannot say, ‘I believe.’”

I found this Chinese student to be very, very wise. To make the jump from “This is true” to “I believe” is not just a matter of explication. There are many truths that we see, but to be able to say, “I believe” needs grace. I have a feeling that he already believes. I can- not believe that grace is absent. What else is missing for him to be able to say in grace, “I believe”?
Before we parted I told him, “Should you reach a point when you can say, ‘I believe,’ I hope you won’t forget the Catholic tradition.” He had mentioned that he also studied the Protestant tradition. “Oh, yes. I appreciate the many different traditions. Your Catholic tradition is much fuller,” he said, adding, “but after two years here at Catholic University, my only heartache is that no Catholic priest, sister, or student has approached me to teach me about the Word of God. Every Friday the Baptists come to my house and invite me to learn about their religion. You Catholics are very, very weak in evangelism.” As he said this I felt like a culprit. I realized that he was searching for a community that would share its faith, its memory with him. And somehow we failed him. A non-believer who spoke beautifully about the Word of God and the Catholic tradition was making me realize how my indifference, inaction, and sin of omission, in other words my failure to forge community with him, were turning me into an enemy of the Christian faith. Forgetfulness hindered me from actively building bridges of communion with him.

I still remember one of my professors saying that there is an unbeliever within every believer and that we need to constantly dialogue with, evangelize, and convert that part of us. Our belief in the resurrection rests in our acceptance of the cross of Jesus’ love. The more we distance ourselves from the cross and push it to forgetfulness, the more the resurrection becomes a distant reality in our lives. Only by carrying the cross of the victims of history and society in love do we become agents of hope in society.”
Jeremiah
6 months ago
This is my Confirmation name.

I remember my childhood when I often was discussing with my dad about various topics. Although sometimes we were arguing very hard, I know that now he prays for me in the Heaven, and I pray for him here.

The unity is not when you put together two cubes, because they will remain two separate cubes.

When Apostle John mentioned the Seven Churches, did he address different churches?

If the "differences" were and are the fruit of devil's work, they will vanish and will be merely forgotten as if they never existed. If they remain, and after the "administrative" kisses they surely will remain, it means that there is something that blows them up and this "something" may find it (new administrative arrangements) quite comfortable to hide in (in this new den).

This is my position of an ignorant and humble man.

In Christ,
abey
6 months ago
The unity is in the diversity of The Faith, not the diversity of faiths & this Faith is to the Perfect Unity of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit of three persons but of the same substance to one God. It is only by this unity comes our unity through the Person of the Son Christ Jesus who being the express Image of God & on whose Image & Likeness is man created. To understand this unity better we need to understand as to what is disunity in the beliefs, like the three headed God of Hinduism where the stories about the relationship between the three is abound with total strife & supremacy of one over the other even unto adverse sexual corruptions to the point of no return cause it was so in their very beginnings. Beliefs project the truth & to this is the belief in Christ to perfect unity as it was in the beginning, always been.

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