Catholic Church and ecumenism
Schools Relations with: The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae.
The Catholic Church's commitment to ecumenism was based on the conviction that a divided Christianity "openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.
[3]: 1 This was attested to even from the moment the council was announced, by Pope John XXIII, during the vespers closing the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity on 25 January 1959, at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.
Before the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church defined ecumenism as dialogue with other Christian groups to persuade these to return to a unity that they themselves had broken.
The Catholic Church, even before the Second Vatican Council, always considered it a duty of the highest rank to seek full unity with estranged communions of fellow-Christians, and at the same time to reject what it saw as premature and false union that would mean being unfaithful to or glossing over the teaching of Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
But the main stress was laid on caution, as exemplified in canon 1258 the 1917 Code of Canon Law: The aim of the Second Vatican Council, as its initiator Pope John XXIII stated, was to seek renewal from within the Church itself, which would serve for those separated from the see of Rome as a "gentle invitation to seek and find that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed so ardently to his heavenly Father".
While relations with some Eastern Orthodox Churches were strained in the 1990s over property issues in post-Soviet states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989–1991, these differences are now largely resolved.
"[3]: n102 One of the most significant documents on ecumenical relations was Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, published by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1982.
[11] Although not as representatives of their church, Catholic theologians participated in the production of the 1982 paper, with the aim to seek common ground between the various traditions concerning the Christian rite of initiation (Baptism), the sacrament of the Eucharist, and the nature of holy orders, while also stating clearly the differences existing between them.
The co-signers of the Common Declaration could thus state: "We both recognize the legitimacy and rightness of these expressions of the same faith and we both respect the preference of each Church in her liturgical life and piety."
It was hoped that this too would be raised to the level of a Joint or Common Declaration, while the dialogue moved on to practical ecclesiological, pastoral, and administrative questions for full communion.
However, in 2004, on the eve of a formal common declaration, the Assyrian patriarch and bishops decided to suspend the dialogue, realizing that "all obstacles to restoring full communion with the Catholic Church had been proven to no longer exist".
Peter and Paul on 29 June 2019, Pope Francis stated that unity rather than leveling differences should be the goal between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
[20] Pope Francis also gave Bartholomew nine bone fragments which were believed to have belonged to St. Peter and which were displayed at a public Mass which was held in the Vatican in November 2013 to celebrate the 'Year of Faith.
[30] Wood claimed without evidence that in the near future she thought that intercommunion could happen in places "where people can't get out, like nursing homes and prisons.
Subsequently, Pope Pius V's excommunication of Elizabeth I of England in 1570 and authorisation of rebellion against her contributed to official suspicion of the allegiances of English Catholics.
This, combined with a desire to assert the claims of the established church, led to the promulgation of restrictive laws against their civil and religious rights.
[31] In 1896 Pope Leo XIII issued Apostolicae curae rejecting the Anglo-Catholic claims of the Oxford Movement and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, such as apostolic succession.
The judgment of nullity was reaffirmed in 1998 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when it gave Apostolicae curae as an example of the authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church.
[32] Some attempts at dialogue began in 1915, when Pope Benedict XV approved a British Legation to the Vatican, led by an Anglican with a Catholic deputy.
Continued efforts resulted in the spread of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in both churches (and others), and the visit of George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, to Cardinal Giovanni Montini of Milan in 1955.
[33] Real rapprochement was achieved under the leadership of Pope John XXIII, whose foundation of the "Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity" encouraged Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher to make a historic, though not entirely official, visit to the Vatican in 1960.
In 1966, Archbishop Michael Ramsey made an official visit to Pope Paul VI, and in the following year, the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) was established.
We suggest that our local parishes regularly make a public profession of faith together, perhaps by renewing baptismal promises at Pentecost each year.
While respecting current canonical requirements, we also encourage the inclusion of witnesses from the other church at baptisms and confirmations, particularly in the case of candidates from interchurch families.
[36] Although ARCIC had completed a major document on Marian theology in 2003, John Paul II temporarily called off all future talks between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion after the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop.
[37] John Paul II made Pastoral Provision for Anglican congregations which as a whole wish to enter into full communion with the Holy See.
In October 2009, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced Pope Benedict XVI's intention to create a new type of ecclesiastical structure, called a personal ordinariate, for groups of Anglicans entering into full communion with the see of Rome.
"The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is equivalent to a diocese, created by the Vatican in 2012 for people nurtured in the Anglican tradition who wish to become Catholic.
(UUS, 2)In ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church and investigating the divine mysteries with the separated brethren must proceed with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility.
