The Laity and Ecumenism

THE LAITY AND ECUMENISM THE movement for Christian unity known as ecumenical, which has provided the somewhat ugly word" ecumenism " to describe its activities, began within Protestantism over fifty years ago. Today it has caught the attention of the whole Christian world and promises to become a major preoccupation for all of us, Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox alike. In thinking about our part in it, it is well to remind ourselves of what the Holy See has done by way of directives in regard to it. In 1949 Rome issued the first official document in which the existence of the ecumenical movement was recognized and its techniques of approach between separated Christians recommended to Catholics. The official name of the document is The Instruction of the Sac1·ed Congregation of the Holy Office to Local Ordinaries on the Ecumenical Movement (Ecclesia Catholica). In this Instruction directives are given to Catholics concerning the part they can and should take in promoting ecumenical action. The Instruction opens by saying that the deep desire for Christian unity that has arisen in the world is the work of the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers of the faithful. It goes on to commend "reunion" work as a very important part of the Church's apostolate. Clergy and laity alike are to be encouraged to take part in it. General instruction is to be given on this work by bishops in pastoral letters, and centers are to be set up in each diocese, where possible, with a priest expert in ecumenical matters in charge to supervise and guide the progress of the work. The bishops are exhorted to promote ecumenical activity positively and with prudent encouragement, as well as to guide it in the problems it will encounter. Regulations are laid down for discussion meetings on questions of doctrine between theologians on either side and for collaboration in social problems by 307 308 HENRY ST. JOHN lay people. When matters of doctrine come up for debate between Catholics and non-Catholics, as inevitably they do, provision will be made for studying the best method of approach between them in this kind of dialogue, as it is called. In preparation for it, lectures and study groups will have to be organized. Finally, all Catholics are asked, and indeed urged, to pray for this work that it may spread its influence widely. The Instruction was issued thirteen years ago, and at the time little notice was taken of it, at least in English speaking countries. But, since the election of John XXIII to the Papacy, a rapid change of atmosphere has taken place owing to his vigorous initiatives, both by word and by example. He has emphasized on many occasions that we must make the Church attractive to the outsider not by altering its faith, but by a change of attitude involving a spiritual renewal in charity. We must commend our beliefs in terms non-Catholics can understand-by relating our truths to theirs in non-technical language, by taking away usages and customs which are unessential and which have outgrown their former usefulness and become hindrances to mutual understanding. But we must go further than that. By love and sympathy we must seek to penetrate their minds, to see from their point of view what they think and the way they think, however foreign it may seem at first sight to our ways. We encourage them to do the same. By doing this, we shall prepare the ground for a convergent move towards unity in faith under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we shall find ourselves faced by the problem of ecumenical encounter. An individual friendship grows with knowledge of each other, love of each other gained by living together and coming to share in understanding of each other's ways of thought. Such a friendship is brought to perfection by unity in faith. So, differing groups of Christians can prepare the ground for a common unity in faith by sharing a spirit of friendship founded on the desire to understand what the differences are that divide them and why they do so. We must grasp as a reality...