Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

For just as the body is one and has many members...1Corinthians 12:12

A Talk given by Kassa Sagou at MAfr Formation Community

We have been praying for the past few days for Christian Unity and I have been asking myself: what kind of unity are we praying for? And how is such a unity possible with these churches or Christian community that spent all their preaching time in attacking the Catholic Church?

            What type of unity are we praying for?

Perspectives are different. For some the unity we are praying for is just a kind of working cooperation and more understanding between the churches. It is just a tool for cohabitation; a chance to peacefully live together without frictions.  

Others however think that the Unity among Christian is a gift from God, as human being, we cannot achieve it by our own effort. But still we have to do our own share of the work; we have to do what is humanly possible.

There is a second group that talks of spiritual union. That is a “change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians. [This] should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement. (UR 8).

Whatever may be the case, the purpose of the ecumenical movement - without any prejudice to working cooperation, to unity being a gift from God – is to achieve visible unity of Christian first at the spiritual level ( by processing the life in the Spirit that leads to communion in holiness and beatific vision, communion in grace and virtue, communion in works of charity, communion as children of God) and if possible at the juridical level (same catholic faith, same sacrament, same ecclesiastical government). The Purpose therefore of our prayer in this house is to lead us to the visible unity of all Christians.

Different ecclesiology and their consequences on ecumenism

For the orthodox family, the local church is of vital importance with a bishop of apostolic succession.

The protestant couples with their brothers the Pentecostals can be subdivided in many groups of different ecclesiological perspectives, because of time, I would like to fit them together into one box. For them, separation between the visible church and the invisible church is very crucial. The most important between the two is the invisible church in which one gains admittance through baptism and faith in Christ. The visible church is of this world and its structures are of less importance, just a means to the invisible church. So structures are of no importance to them.

For us Catholics, without separating - make a distinction between the local church and the universal church as well as between the visible church and the heavenly Jerusalem (invisible church) - we uphold and maintain the necessity to be one under the leadership of the bishop of Rome with all the privileges and responsibilities entrusted to him (see UR 2). We may not have great difficulties with perspective of others but they certainly have difficulties as you all know to accepting the only and unique authority of the Pope and the college of bishops in communion with him.

What does the church say vis-à-vis all these difficulties?

Despite the difficulties, the Church maintains that “Ecumenism is the way of the Church” (Ut Unum Sint 7). It seems therefore that it is the responsibility of the church to work for and look for the unity of all the flock that right from the beginning was entrusted to the college of apostles with Peter as the one on whom he will build his church, and the one who will confirm in faith and shepherd in perfect unity all his sheep (UR 2).

Why is the church so much interested in the unity of all Christians

The church thinks and believes that her commitment to ecumenism is based upon God’s plan (UUS 5).

ü  Old Testament

Right from the beginning, God created all of us in his image and likeness (Gn.). We can also make reference to the Mosaic covenant loaded with responsibility towards bringing other nations to come and worship God in Jerusalem. The image of Prophet Ezekiel 37: 16-28) referring to the situation of God's People at that time, and using the simple sign of two broken sticks which are first divided and then joined together, expressed the divine will to “gather from all sides” the members of his scattered people. “I will be their God, and they shall be my people. “Then the nations will know that I the Lord sanctify Israel”

ü  The New Testament

In John’s Gospel we have “Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (Jn.11:51-52). Indeed, as the Letter to the Ephesians explains, Jesus “broke down the dividing wall of hostility ... through the Cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end”; in place of what was divided he brought about unity (cf. Ephesians2:14-16).

The priestly prayer of Jesus in Jn17 that they may be one, the prayer of St Paul that they be one in mind and body could be referred to.

            It becomes obvious to all of us that the division among Christians is truly a scandal. “Division openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature” (UUS 6).

If God’s plan has always been the unity of all and if Jesus died for such unity, how can we Christians, followers of Jesus, who have faith in Jesus be so divided? It is because we have misunderstood the ministry and the work of Jesus? Or is it because we have been selfish and less considerate of one another?

Difficulties towards realising Christian unity

Though the church seem to be the forerunner of Christian unity, most of the difficulties I find spring from Church documents. For instance, we maintain that Christ founded one Church, and that one Church exist (UR 1&2). The one Church of Christ subsist in the Catholic Church (LG 8), governed by the successor of Peter and the college of Bishops in communion with him (UUS 10).  

Dominus Iesus maintains Jesus is the unique and universal saviour. He is the founder of the Church, but at the same time, he cannot be dissociated with his Church. This is what makes the Church necessary for salvation. “Christ is only made present to us in his body which is the Church...., the universal sacrament of salivation.” (DI 20). The Church as the sacrament of salvation remains the sign (pointing to salvation) and a symbol (making salvation present). The C.D.F. maintains that the word Church refers  to the only Church of Christ that subsist in the Catholic Church and by extension to those churches which remain in communion with the Church though valid sacraments and apostolic succession (DI 17). It is not acceptable to think that the Church of Christ exists nowhere and it is our challenge to attain the goal of establishing it.  Thus The Declaration therefore sets the Catholic Church above all the so called ecclesial communities suggesting that they are all under the bosom of the only Church of Christ which subsists in the Catholic Church.

In saying this, I am not intending to mean that the difficulties spring only from the catholic teachings. It is obvious to all that there are difficulties from all sides ranging from doctrine sometimes discipline, to the structure of the church.

Way forward towards ecumenism

ü  Oneness in Mind and Heart

We could achieve unity by reducing areas of focus. For St Paul, unity could be focused on two main points: Faith and Charity. In the letter to the Philippians2:2 he expresses that very well when he prays: “complete my Joy by being one in mind (faith) and heart (charity).” In the Acts of the Apostles, besides being one in Mind and Heart, they are urged to be one in fellowship, one in the breaking of the bread and one in prayer. Being one in charity is not really a problem and could be handled easily. But oneness in Faith is an area that constitutes the very raison d’être of our traditional divisions.

ü  The Scriptures

            Central to the process of growth in unity is growth in our understanding of the Word that binds us together. The Scriptures are the inspired testimony to that Word and as such constitute the source to which the Church's understanding of its faith must return again and again in order to deepen, purify and enrich the tradition of faith built on the Word witnessed to within it (Dei Verbum  21). This conviction we hold in common with other Christians. Hence central to the process is our growth in the understanding of the Scriptures (Directory of Ecumenism 59).

ü  The Church as the Body of Christ

The image of the Church as the Body of Christ could also be used to attain unity. In this case, we consider all the different Christian families or communities, churches as the case may be to be specific parts of the same body - having Christ as its head – working harmoniously towards the same goal, the harmonious growth of the body. Christ in this case is both at the centre and the head of all these churches ecclesial communities etc. In this model, we consider all the communities to have been gifted with a special charisma and so have the duty and responsibility to develop it utilise it for the purpose of all.

I am however aware that this model suffers from serious ecclesiological, and doctrinal limitation according to the teachings of the church, demises the privileged place of the church as the first among many and may also mean abiding with the dictatorship of relativism to quote the words of Benedict XVI.  But then, does apostolic succession and communion with the successor of Peter limit God or Jesus in the way he share Chrism? Are the symbols of faith the way we profess them in the Creed more important than the faith in Christ as expressed by Paul in Galatians 2:20 “it is no more I who live but Christ who lives in me”?