The Causes of the World Ecumenical Movement

THE CAUSES OF THE WORLD ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT Ecumenical Truth X understanding of the causes of the ecumenical movement depends on an understanding of ecumenical truth. Since this truth is one aspect only of the search for universal truth applied to a particular sector, this search is essentially objective. The truth is to be sought for its own sake, irrespective of its utilitarian application or of any preconceived hypotheses of the searcher. Ecumenical truth differs from the truths open to philosophical research in that it owes its origin to a divine revelation, and finds its most perfect expression in a Kingdom which is not of this world; yet, by the divine-human necessity of the Incarnation, this truth is embodied in a social institution governed by its own officers, involved in the historical process, suffering inevitably as Christ suffered, and being rent as was His garment. The fact that ecumenical truth has a finite as well as an infinite horizon means that Catholics cannot simply present the ecumenical task as a spiritual problem to be overcome by prayer and self-sacrifice, though this is indispensable and, it may be, quite enough for this or that individual member of the Body of Christ. To each his own particular vocation in the work for reunion, whether it be spiritual dynamism and inspiration, such as that which inspires a religious contemplative to offer her life; or the patient work of prayerful reflection, comparison, research; or simply attentiveness to the view-point of those with whom we engage in discussion. As with philosophical truth, we have to create a climate of informed opinion before we can move forward to new acts of understanding and co-operation in the ecumenical field. Even more than in the domain of philosophical truth, ecumenical understanding depends intimately on the quality o£ life and personal witness of the searcher. For if every schism, no 551 552 THOMAS COWLEY less than every heresy, is the consequence of human sin impinging at some point on the life of the Mystical Body, it is clear that every advance towards unity will depend on the quality and consistency of the Christian life and witness of those working for reunion. The Word "Ecumenical" Dr. Visser't Hooft distinguishes seven meanings of the word " ecumenical." Pertaining to or representing the whole (inhabited ) earth or the whole of the (Roman) Empire are meanings encountered in the Greco-Roman world and the New Testament. The life of the Church in the early centuries gave rise to the meaning of referring to or representing the whole o£ the Church or of that which possesses universal ecclesiastical validity. The remaining three meanings are modern developments : the world-wide missionary outreach o£ the Church; the relations between and unity of two or more Churches (or Christians of different confessions); and that quality or attitude which expresses the consciousness of and desire for Christian unity.1 It does seem, however, that many modern writers, Catholic no less than non-Catholic Christians, use the word in several of these ways or even in combinations in the same context. Since the word is so rich in content such a practice is by no means illegitimate provided the context makes the meaning clear or supports the composite usage. The ignoring of this diversity of meaning lay at the basis o£ some misunderstanding when it was first announced that there would be an Ecumenical Council, designed not merely to edify the Christian people, but to invite separated Christian communities to find within the Catholic Church that unity sought by so many souls from all quarters of the earth. For Catholics, an ecumenical council has a clearly defined canonical meaning. For the great mass of 1 In Appendix I of A HistOT'IJ of the Ecume:nical Movement 1517-1948, ed. R. Rouse, S. C. Neill, S. P. C. K., London, 1954, pp. 785-740, based on a fuller presentation in his book The Meaning of Ecume:nical (The Burge Memorial Lecture, 1958) London, 1958. The reader is referred to the Rouse/Neill symposium for a fuller examination of the subject of the present article. CAUSES OF WORLD ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT 553 Catholics in the world the reality...