The ecumenical movement - is it at a standstill?

After 40 years of Ecumenical growth since Vatican II's Decree on Ecumenism, it may now be useful to ask ourselves: "Where do we stand now? Have we Christians made any progress towards Christian Unity? Is the Ecumenical Movement still moving forward, as it has certainly done during these past 40 years, or is it now at a standstill?"

It is hard to give the right answer to this quite legitimate question. There cannot be any doubt that great progress has already been registered in this regard. We are still very far from the type of unity envisaged by Vatican II and eagerly desired by all Christians of the different denominations.

We are now no longer 'avoiding' each other for fear of 'contamination' as it were. Instead, we are now looking at each other as fellow Christians with mutual respect, we organise formal meetings between us, and so on. By and large I think that all of us have been accustomed to put into practice Pope John XXIII's suggestion "that we should attach greater importance to the things we agree upon than to those in which we differ".

After saying this, however, there still remains the sad fact that, not only a number of fundamental areas regarding doctrine still need to be tackled, but other difficulties have arisen in recent times. The latter ones, as many people are aware, could not but give the impression that some steps backward rather than forward have been made.

This is the impression one gets after reading an article, entitled "Unity on a knife's edge", written by Cardinal Cormack Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, and published in the Catholic periodical The Tablet (November 20, 2004, pp. 14 f.).

In this article the Cardinal states quite openly that, in his opinion, the Ecumenical Movement is now facing a crisis. This view, in my opinion, is a rather pessimistic one. To be honest, the blame is perhaps to be looked for in the yard of both sides.

There was first the ordinantion of women to the priesthood in both the Anglican and the Lutheran Churches, a decision which, as one remembers, has prompted a number of Anglican priests to be re-ordained in the Catholic Church, where some of them are now already functioning as parish priests in Roman Catholic parishes, or are serving there in various positions. Another setback was the recent ordination of a female Anglican priest as bishop, a fact that was also strongly opposed by some of the Anglican Churches both in Britain and elsewhere.

Neither has the ecumenical dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches registered much progress. This can be stated in a particular way as regards the Patriarchate of Moscow, which has strongly objected to the establishment of Catholic dioceses in Russia, with the aim of securing a more efficient organisation of the good pastoral work which several Catholic priests have already been doing there since the fall of the Soviet Union.

It appears that this 'sad' fact has caused the Patriarch of Moscow to refuse meeting Pope John Paul II, who has been anxious to travel to the Russian Federation to meet the Roman Catholic priests now doing pastoral care there, but especially to pay a friendly visit to His Holiness Patriarch Alexei. The latter has till now refused to meet the Pope.

All this is not meant to suggest that everything is altogether in order on the side of the Roman Catholic Church, which is also made up of human beings subject to weaknesses and limitations. The widespread publicity given to the numerous sexual abuses perpetrated by members of the clergy involving minors has literally rocked the Catholic Church, especially in the US.

Although crimes of this nature did not imply any breach of fundamental doctrines, there is no doubt that the Catholic Church has nevertheless suffered a great blow and a serious humiliation before the other Christian Churches and the entire world. To this one may add that, according to many Roman Catholics, much more progress could have been registered in regard to a more practical implementation of the Decree on Ecumenism, which was issued by Vatican II exactly 40 years ago.

To end on a note of optimism, we must gratefully admit that much progress has nevertheless been achieved in regard to practical and spiritual ecumenism. When one bears in mind that doctrinal and other divisions have been there for several centuries, one could hardly expect that everything could come back to normal in just 40 years.

Besides, what Vatican II had in mind was not absolute unity, but unity in diversity, as Pope John XXIII once said in this context: "Unity in necessary things, freedom in doubtful things, charity in all things" (in necessari's unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas).

With this in mind, the Malta Ecumenical Council (MEC) is this year again organising the annual prayer meeting during the world-wide Octave for Christian unity (see box). All are invited.