Part III: Ecumenical Formation
A. What are some important means of ecumenical formation?
When we talk of the importance of the means for ecumenical formation, we mean that all the faithful have to be taken into consideration and they are to be animated by the ecumenical spirit. There should not be any segregation of hatred towards other churches, because all the Christians worship the same God and final destination also is the same. Therefore, in the ecumenical formation, the ecumenical spirit is the core point for the unity. The ecumenical spirit is the one that will tie all Christians in one cord of harmonious music. Thus, all the faithful should be formed in the line of the ecumenical spirit despite the fact that all the churches have their own missions and tasks to be carried out in the world and in society. The Christians must be filled with the spirit of Christ, the gift prayed for by Christ before his passion, the grace of unity. These are the primary importance of the ecumenical formation in the line of unity. The formations should bring some genuine changes of attitude and conversion of the heart. Then the person should be at peace to himself or herself. Once it is done then that person should establish unity with Christ, with the Father and with the neighbor. At last, there should be very active communion from the individual faithful with the universal church, not leaving out his or her particular church.
To achieve the goal of the ecumenical unity, the directory for the application of principles and norms on ecumenism has proposed some means of and settings for formation.
Means of Formation
The directory for the application of principles and norms on ecumenism speaks of several means of formation that are particular to the Christian unity.
1. Hearing and Studying the word of God
For all the churches, the scripture is the foundation of their existence as independent churches. For the Catholics, the scripture and tradition are the Supreme rule of faith, food of the soul, the pure and enduring source of spiritual life. The other churches and the ecclesial communities too have the same deep love and reverences for the Holy Scripture. This means the word of God is the same for all. Thus, the word of God is to be approached with religious attention. This will indeed open up a way forward to strengthen the path towards unity.
2. Preaching
The preaching is another means of formation. Pope Paul VI says: as evangelizers, we must offer Christ’s faithful not the image of a people divided and separated by unedifying quarrels, but the image of people who are mature in faith and capable of finding a meeting-point beyond the real tension, thanks to a shared, sincere and disinterested search for the truth. Preaching should be in the line of revealing the mystery of unity of the church, which will promote the visible unity of Christians. In preaching any aggressive or improper use of scriptures must be avoided.
3. Catechesis
During the religious instruction there should not be only a doctrinal teaching. Rather there should be an initiation into the Christian life as a whole with full participation in the sacraments of the church. The teaching is a real formation of transformation. Therefore, religious instructions should be in an ecumenical attitude and it should be according to the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae 32-33.
a) The order of the hierarchy of truth must be explained well and must be respected. There should be avoidance of the expressions and ways of presentation of the doctrine that can bring some obstacle in dialogue.
b) The teachings of other churches and ecclesial communities must be presented correctly and honestly because there are also valuable teachings such as the means of salvation in ecclesial communities. This will lease the tension, when truth of faith is known by all Christians of all churches.
c) Catechesis should help the children, young guys and adults to cultivate the true desire for unity. Moreover it should foster real effort to purify and remove all the obstacles, not the doctrinal omission but, by aiming at the perfect unity that the Lord wills and means it.
d) There should be a formulation of the new catechism in the local church in order to bring the mutual understanding between the Catholic and the other churches. This new catechism’s reference point should be always Catechesi Tradendae and with the approval of the Bishop of that particular diocese.
4. Liturgy
The liturgy is the primary and indispensable source for the faithful to derive the true Christian spirit. It brings unity among all who believe in Christ. It is an agent of unity because everybody participates fully in the celebration with full conscience. In this way the faithful can give an example to others by their way of life.
The Holy Eucharist is the wonderful sacrament in which the unity of the church is both signified and brought about. While celebrating the Eucharist the participants learn to offer themselves together with the Celebrant.
There should be regular and fidelity in organizing prayer for Christian unity according to the indication of the directory. The unity week could be 18 -25 January or between Ascension and Pentecost. It is symbolic because in this period the Holy Spirit may confirm the church in its unity.
5. The Spiritual Life
In the ecumenical movement the priority should be given to the conversion of heart, spiritual life and its renewal. The change of heart, holiness of life is the soul of the whole ecumenical movement. Thus, the Faithfull’s spiritual life should be Christ the savior as its center and the glory of God the father as its goal. This idea should be shared in the ecumenical movement as the focal point through witnessing the gospel life.
Catholics are also called to give value to some good elements and sources of spiritual life of other churches and ecclesial communities. Because, all the good things belong to the church of Christ such as the Holy Scripture, sacraments and some sacred actions, faith, hope, charity and the gift of the Spirit. There should be practical knowledge of other traditions of spirituality too like mystical tradition of East, monastic spiritual treasure, worship and piety of Anglicans and protestant spirituality.
6. Other Initiatives
There should be close collaboration in social and charitable sphere of daily life. It should be in the context of school, hospital, prison etc. this is where, if implemented, we can see the social application of the gospel.
B. Name and briefly describe some settings for formation.
There are some settings proposed in the directory for the application of principles and norms on ecumenism. These places could be the places of human formation as a mature Christians in the sense of companionship and communion.
7. The family
Family is the first church. Rightly the second Vatican Council calls it “the domestic church.” The family is the first place in which unity can be fashioned. The each member of the family is different and learns to accept and respect each other. In this way the family as a Christian identifies and makes itself ready as a community for others. Therefore, it should be open to the church and also to the human society for dialogue and social involvement. The parents should, by their example and deeds, are the first preachers of the faith to their children. If it is done in a manner in early age then the children will grow without any problem.
In mixed marriage, the family has the duty to proclaim Christ with the fullness implied in the common baptism.
8. The Parish
The parish as an ecclesial unity should proclaim itself to be the place of authentic ecumenical witness. The parish should educate the members in the ecumenical spirit. The form of the homily and catechesis should be in the line of ecumenism. It should have a pastoral program of promoting ecumenical activity. This will certainly help to understand all the Christians and collaborate closely in harmony with one other.
9. The School
The school is another good place where the ecumenical formation can be given. All levels of schools should give an importance to the ecumenical religious teaching and the aim should be training of the hearts and minds of the students with human and religious values. This would bring tolerance and acceptances of other Christian and religious groups.
The school should be the place of development in the line of the spirit of charity, of respect, and of dialogue. The education should wipe out all the languages and prejudices that bring division between Christians. The students should be taught genuine ecumenism according to the doctrine of the church. History and arts should be explained well in terms of early conflict and division in the history of the Church, the ecumenical problems that we have today in the spirit of dialogue and unity.
10. Groups, associations, ecclesial movements
The Christian life has been enriched by variety of expression, enterprises and spiritualities according to the Charism given by the Spirit for the building up of the church, revealing the clear distinction of the tasks in the service of the community. Those who are involved in such groups should be filled with a solid ecumenical spirit. There should be living example of their baptismal commitment in the world. This baptismal commitment has to be in communion with other churches and ecclesial communities and it should be carried out on the basis of a sound formation in the light of Christian wisdom.
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