Rebuilding Christian unity

As the annual week of prayer for Christian Unity is now with us, a few reflections on some aspects of the Ecumenical Movement may be in order.

There is no doubt that this movement is very much to Pope Benedict XVI's heart, as it has been to all the Holy Fathers before him, especially to Pope John XXIII, who initiated the Second Vatican Council.

Indeed, prayer for the union of all believers in the Triune God and in Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, whether they be Catholics, Protestants of various expressions, or Orthodox, has been taking various expressions throughout the world wherever Christians live. This has been the case with both the West and the East, especially in recent years when new obstacles have unfortunately arisen.

As regards the Protestant Churches, it is a source of great and thankful satisfaction to realise that a so-called 'conversion of the heart' is, generally speaking, already taking place on the local level in many areas and in most parts of the world. Instead if avoiding each other, to put it bluntly, it is now a matter of deep and thankful satisfaction to realise that many barriers between us have now practically disappeared: we meet more often than before, we pray together, inspired by the same Spirit who lives in all of us. This has been also in Malta, thanks in many ways to the Ecumenical Council, which has now been active for more than ten years.

It is rather unfortunate, however, that on a higher level new situations have arisen, which have marred rather than helped the important progress that had been achieved in the course of the entire period after Vatican II.

I am referring here in particular to the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican communion, especially in certain areas. The admission of women to the priesthood, for example, or even in some cases to episcopal ordination, is proving far from helpful as far as the prospects of reunion are concerned.

In spite of all, however, as some have put it, "instead of rivals and competitors, we have now become friends", and this is so notwithstanding the fact that attention to ecumenical letters has now become somewhat blurred by the increased attention being given to Islam, a fruitful dialogue with which, as everyone knows, is becoming increasingly difficult as far as inter-religious dialogue is concerned.

Ecumenism in the East seems to be presenting us today with a somewhat brighter image. During Benedict XVI's recent visit to Turkey, which has proved to be very successful and fruitful (in spite of certain unfortunate misinterpretations of the Holy Father's address at Regensburg), a most significant meeting took place at Istanbul between the Holy Father and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

As one may recall, the international Catholic-Orthodox dialogue has been virtually at a standstill for some time now.

Ever since Orthodox and long-suppressed Eastern Catholic communities in Eastern Europe began clashing not long after the collapse of Communism and the ensuing establishment of regular Roman Catholic dioceses on Russian and formerly Communist territories, the Orthodox Churches are now insisting that the dialogue between them for the time being should deal exclusively with this problem and it should be resolved before returning to the theological agenda.

This is why the emphasis in Orthodox-Catholic dialogue has almost completely shifted to the local level and to relations between the Holy See and individual Orthodox Churches.

This new approach corresponds more accurately to the realities of the Orthodox Church, since the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in Istanbul, as we know, has no real authority over the other Churches of the East, which could in fact even obstruct common orthodox action if they should wish to do so.

Catholics and Orthodox still have a long way to go before overcoming all the doctrinal and psychological hurdles that have been built in the course of the past 1,000 years. We need to pray more together. We need to work harder for our own personal conversion to Jesus Christ, who alone can heal the wounds of the past and kindle in our hearts the love and respect for each other. Inner conversion of God, after all, is far more important than any doctrinal agreement.

For this purpose the annual Octave of prayer for Christian Unity is being celebrated all over the world (starting last Thursday). Here in Malta everyone is invited to attend the ecumenical meeting which will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m.. at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Valletta.

The theme of the meeting is: 'He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear, and the mute speak.' (Mark 7: 37)

The Malta Ecumenical Council is composed of representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Union of the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Congregation, Evangelical Church of Germany and the Churches of Eastern Tradition.