Ecumenical Christian Dialogues and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The

The Ecumenical Christian Dialogues and the Catechism of the Catholic Church

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Similar developments have occurred regularly around the globe. P, as part of the report The Unity We Seek. An exploratory meeting had been held in Washington, DC on July 27, , just eight months after the promulgation of the Decree on Ecumenism and five months before the Second Vatican Council concluded. That exploratory meeting set in place the continuous series of conversations celebrated and explored in this volume.

In almost any ecumenical structure in which Catholics and Reformed churches participate, they provide unique leadership because of their numbers, their ability to exercise leadership in all of their congregations, their theological and ethical seriousness, and the mutual accountability of their ministers. This does not mean that Reformed or Catholic churches are without their own internal tensions which intrude into the ecumenical setting.

However, Reformed and Catholic Christians recognize that by their baptism, their confession of the Christian faith as attested in the Scriptures and the ancient ecumenical creeds, and their common calling to mission, what binds them together is far greater than what divides them. To further the gospel call toward greater visible unity, there have been official dialogues commissioned for over forty years: Both traditions have also participated in numerous faith and order commissions across the world. From time to time, other US Reformed churches have been included in the dialogue, i.

Summary of the Dialogues We begin with a brief overview of the various dialogues as a contribution to the other dimensions of ecumenical life, in social witness, common evangelism, spiritual renewal, theological research and collaborative efforts in the local community. The overview outlines theological discussion creating the bases for visible unity, full communion among these churches. The dialogues are an occasion to appreciate the gifts of our traditions. We also seek to identify differences of conviction and to resolve them in truth. In the remainder of this Introduction, we will note the elements of full communion as they have been articulated in our World Council of Churches discussion.

We will also note a specific framework for moving toward full communion as articulated by the Reformed churches and the Catholic Church, and our hopes for the use of this overview. To simplify this summary, we have noted the documents keyed to the lists at the end of the introduction and of the whole booklet, and — where possible — left in paragraph numbering, so that references can be followed in whatever version of the document is used. Also, where possible, web addresses as well as hard copy are noted. The next section, The Journey Toward Unity , will survey the two rounds of world level dialogues and the eight rounds of US dialogues and their results.

The third section, Common Basis in Faith , will briefly focus the contents of these dialogues, by themes, to show how they interrelate in one unified process contributing to our pilgrimage toward full communion in the Church Christ wills for us. The fourth section, Common Pastoral Challenges , will deal with the day to day living of Reformed and Catholic Christians, and how we can promote the Gospel in the lives of all Christians.

Journey in Faith: Forty Years of Reformed-Catholic Dialogue: 1965-2005

Full Communion Reformed and Catholic churches have worked together for forty years and Reformed churches for nearly a century with the full array of Orthodox, Protestant, and Anglican churches to articulate a basis for Christian unity in the context of a movement of theological dialogue called Faith and Order. Among the results of these dialogues is a vision of what is necessary for a united Church. Within the World Council of Churches, that same vision was articulated in in a document called The Unity of the Church as Koinonia: This vision can link the bilateral work of Reformed and Catholic churches to the wider work for the unity of the Church.

Among other things, this WCC statement enumerates the specific elements needing resolution if full communion is to be achieved: The goal of the search for full communion is realized when all the churches are able to recognize in one another the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church in its fullness. This full communion will be 5 expressed on the local level and the universal levels through conciliar forms of life and action.

In such communion churches are bound in all aspects of life together at all levels in confessing the one faith and engaging in worship and witness, deliberation and action. Of course, these elements are also the subject of other ecumenical discussions, both in the World Council of Churches and in other church union conversations. The Unity of the Church as Koinonia articulates what Christians agree must be part of the Church, on the one hand, and where agreement must be reached if Christians are to be united.

They affirm that the essential unity of the people of God is grounded in our baptism. The Reformed believe that Eucharistic unity is a given in our one baptism, and in the Eucharist the baptized may experience their unity in Christ even if certain manifestations of that unity are incomplete. It expressed the matter this way: In the body of Christ, there is diversity in unity, variety which enriches fellowship, many gifts of the one Spirit 1 Cor. Within the body of Christ, love becomes enfleshed in justice and sharing… We do not know the precise form of the unity we seek but we believe that it must be such that all in each place must be seen as belonging to one fellowship and that these local, regional or national churches must be in conciliar communion with one another.

The second Reformed-Catholic consultation in the United States summarized what Christians have come to identify as the essential elements needed for full communion: The communion in which Christians believe and for which they hope is, in its deepest reality, their unity with the Father through Christ in the Spirit. Since Pentecost, it has been given and received in the Church, the communion of saints. It is accomplished fully in the glory of heaven, but is already realized in the Church on earth as she journeys toward that fullness. Those who live united 1 in faith, hope and love, 2 in mutual service, 3 in common teaching and sacraments, 4 under the guidance of the pastors are part of that communion which constitutes the Church of God.

This communion is realized concretely 5 in the particular churches, each of which is gathered together around its bishop. In each of these "the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and alive. However, the substance is the same. In a survey of these dialogues, the elements identified by the Reformed and Catholic churches have been touched upon, either in the US or the global dialogues.

In local discussions Reformed and Catholic Christians from all points of view and traditions, along with other Christian traditions, are invited to participate. Both of our traditions are unalterably committed to the ecumenical movement; its penultimate goal of common witness, service, prayer and action; and its ultimate goal of full communion. Thus, the dialogue has as its clear goal: The journey toward the unity of the churches must be founded on love and trust.

However, as we build up our trust and love in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we also move into the more challenging issues that continue to keep us divided. Remarkable progress has been made toward resolving many of the issues that once divided us. Our dialogues deal with the careful, and often technical, discussions that are necessary if our churches are to achieve the full communion in faith, sacramental life and witness for which we pray.

As the international bilateral formulates our common understanding of church: Norms for the belief and practice of the Church are not simply to be found in isolated proof-texts or in clearly discernible primitive patterns, but in the New Testament considered as a whole and as testimony to the divine purpose and mission for Israel, for the Church and for all humanity. In this respect, New Testament theology reckons with the content of the promise contained in the history of God's covenantal dealings with his people in the Old Testament. There was complete agreement in presenting ecclesiology from a clear christological and pneumatological perspective in which the Church is the object of declared faith and cannot be completely embraced by a historical and sociological description.

There was also agreement in presenting the Church as the "body of Christ" cf. The Apostle Paul's description of the Church as the body of Christ presupposes knowledge of the death, resurrection and exaltation of the Lord. The Church exists therefore as the body of Christ essentially by the Holy Spirit, just as does the exalted Lord. Stress was laid, however, on the complementary character of other images, particularly that of the bride cf. Thomas Best, Gunther Gassmann, eds. On the Way to Fuller Koinonia , Geneva: World Council of Churches, John Paul, Ut Unum Sint: On Commitment to Ecumenism , Origins, The Journey toward Unity A.

Worldwide Dialogues Robert McAfee Brown and other Reformed leaders initiated conversations with the leadership of the Catholic Church during the course of the second Vatican Council where they were observers representing the Reformed churches. An Interpretation of the Catholic-Protestant Dialogue , one is impressed with the candor of the exchange, on the one hand, and on the other hand with the significant progress that has been made in these ecumenical relationships. In celebrating the recovery of the word ecumenism he identifies its three interlocking meanings: The appropriate means of communication in this new situation is dialogue.

The papers covered such themes as mission, the world, authority, ministry and the Eucharist. The second round took up the theme "Towards a Common Understanding of the Church" It focused on five themes in its meetings: Concurrently, the Reformation-Catholic Dialogue Commission in the Netherlands took up the same theme and published their results under the title From Roots to Fruits. After providing these two published reports, the WARC dialogue took up the theme: As of , six meetings have taken place touching on a variety of topics related to kingdom, church, communion and common witness.

In addition to these bilateral dialogues, the World Council Faith and Order discussions, and a host of national and regional dialogues have contributed to Reformed Catholic reconciliation.

Key among these are the dialogues of the German churches studying the condemnations of the sixteenth century, and the French Groupe des Dombes, an informal group of scholars whose central leaders have been Reformed and Catholic. United States Dialogues The American dialogue between our two traditions, which has been going on since , has brought to the table both theoretical and practical expertise in ecumenism, and have innovated several areas of ecumenical reflection.

The first Round took up topics still of central interest for the ecumenical endeavor. Commenting jointly at the end of the volume on the discussions, Daniel J. O'Hanlon, SJ, and Robert McAfee Brown noted that the "flexibility of the first two centuries" in the "forms of ministry of the Church," while "providing no warrant for naively turning back the clock seventeen centuries, did at least suggest that the present pattern was not an absolute.

Thus does the search for Christian unity cycle back time and again to its core themes and the urging of the Spirit. The first joint statement of the consultation was devoted to the topic, "The Ministry of the Church.

The action recommendations at the end of each reflection on "what is essential" remain challenging both nationally and in local congregations. The next rounds discussed the relationship between ethical issues and ecumenism. To what extent, it was asked, are differing stances on personal and social ethical questions church-dividing? Round three took up that challenge. In Ethics and the Search for Christian Unity , the consultation reported on two topics of great sensitivity and difficulty for our religious communities.

The joint "Statement on Abortion" from Ethics and the Search for Christian Unity still serves as a model for what can be said together by two believing communities despite real differences in theory and practice. Likewise, the "Statement on Human Rights," which focused especially on the case of South Africa, while illustrating a closer common moral vision on one level also surfaced some real differences.

The consultation then grappled with different stances on aid to private education. This section of the statement reflected on compatibilities of understanding of the nature and function of the educational process in society and in Church. The studies on the laity and on families in the fifth and sixth rounds are designed to serve direct congregational engagement.

At present the dialogue has returned to theological issues, discussing the Eucharist and baptism. Common Basis in Faith A. What we believe together 1 Scripture and Tradition The international dialogue undertaken between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity in made a significant contribution to the relationship between scripture and tradition: Both on the Catholic and on the Reformed side today, the problem is no longer presented in terms of the battle lines of post-Tridentine polemic.

Historical researches have shown not only how the New Testament writings are themselves already the outcome of and witness to traditions, but also how the canonization of the New Testament was part of the development of tradition. Since the Second Vatican Council, Catholic teaching has stressed the very close connection between Scripture and Tradition: Scripture and Tradition thus constitute "the one holy treasure of the Word of God bequeathed to the Church" Dei Verbum , 10 with a special dignity attaching to the Scriptures because in them apostolic preaching has been given especially clear expression cf.

In the light of these facts, the customary distinction between Scripture and Tradition as two different sources which operate as norms either alternatively or in parallel has become impossible… We are agreed that the development of doctrine and the production of confessions of faith is a dynamic process. In this process the Word of God proves its own creative, critical and judging power. Through the Word, therefore, the Holy Spirit guides the Church to reflection, conversion and reform. Historical scholarship today has not only produced fresh evidence concerning our respective roles in the Reformation and its aftermath.

It also brings us together in broad agreement about sources, methods of inquiry and warrants for drawing conclusions…If we still inevitably interpret and select, at least we are aware that we do, and what that fact means as we strive for greater objectivity and more balanced judgment.

Account Options

This convergence and difference was addressed by the third round preliminary to their work on abortion and human rights. While both the Catholic and Reformed traditions accept Scripture, tradition, reason and experience as decisive touchstones of authority in matter of faith and morals, diverse ways these are understood in view of our theological training led to somewhat divergent ways of defining the key issues.

In spite of the diversity within the two communions and the overlap at many points between them, these deep separations of training signaled how ethics tend to be viewed by the two traditions: Catholics tended to move from philosophical and ecclesiologcally established principles to the pastoral guidance of conscience with Christian love and discernment.

Reformed participants tended to rely more heavily on biblical and theological themes to interpret the forces, structures and processes of social history, and therefore to define the normative possibilities which could guide the people of God in the context of community. Our stereotypes did not seem to fit.

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The Reformed churches continue to write new confessions periodically. The Catholic Church recognizes the role of councils and the teaching office. While not all issues of the role of the Church in teaching have been resolved, two important contributions have been made by these dialogues: The alienation of Reformed and Catholic Christians, especially in Europe, is deeply rooted in painful memories. The international dialogue has attempted to contribute to the reconciliation of memories by a process of joint writing of history.

The dialogue is too rich in detail to be reproduced here, but some of the principles may be useful to note: In general it can be said today that a process of reassessment and re-evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church has been taking place among the Reformed Churches in the last decades, though not proceeding at the same pace everywhere. There are within the Reformed family those whose attitude to the Roman Catholic Church remains essentially negative: But this is only one part of the picture. Others in the Reformed tradition have sought to engage in a fresh constructive and critical evaluation both of the contemporary teaching and practice of the Roman Catholic Church and of the classical controverted issues.

There is on the Reformed side an increasing sense that while the Reformation was at the time theologically and historically necessary, the division of the Western Church should not be accepted as the last word; that it is at best one-sided to read that history as if all the truth lay on the side of the Reformers and none at all on the side of their opponents and critics within the Roman Catholic camp; that there have been both in the more remote and more recent past many positive developments in the Roman Catholic Church itself; that the situation today presents new challenges for Christian witness and service which ought so far as possible to be answered together rather than in separation; and - perhaps most important of all - that Reformed Christians are called to search together with their Roman Catholic separated brothers and sisters for the unity which Christ wills for his Church, both in terms of contemporary witness and in terms of reconsidering traditional disagreements… Roman Catholic negativity towards the Reformed churches had a number of intertwined bases.

On the ecclesiastical level, the most obvious focus of contention was the Reformed rejection of the episcopacy and the papacy that was also sometimes expressed in terms that Roman Catholics found extremely offensive. Another cause of opposition was the fact that the Reformed principle of sola scriptura resulted in a repudiation of many Roman Catholic teachings and practices, such as the sacrifice of the Mass, Marian devotions, and the earning of indulgences.

In particular, Unitatis Redintegratio [the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism] noted that the churches and communities coming from the Reformation "are bound to the Catholic Church by an especially close relationship as a result of the long span of earlier centuries when Christian people lived together in ecclesiastical communion" It recognized that the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as a means of salvation 3 … The very recognition that this is the case marks important progress in our attempt to rid our memories of significant resentments and misconceptions.

We need to set ourselves more diligently, however, to the task of reconciling these memories, by writing together the story of what happened in the sixteenth century, with attention not only to the clash of convictions over doctrine and church order, but with attention also as to how in the aftermath our two churches articulated their respective understandings into institutions, culture and the daily lives of believers.

But, above all, for the ways in which our divisions have caused a scandal, and been an obstacle to the preaching of the Gospel, we need to ask forgiveness of Christ and of each other. The statement emphasizes the role of Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and human kind, and it goes on to articulate the saving role of Christ in our justification, as noted below.

In this, all our churches profess that the existence of the Church on earth comes forth from within the Trinity. The Father has sent his Son and his Spirit into the world to save humankind from sin, to make us a new creation, and to call us to be witnesses to the truth of the gospel.

The Jurist: Studies in Church Law and Ministry

The professions of faith that we have in common express a shared belief that the Church is the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of the Spirit. In its visibility reality, the Church of today is one with the apostolic church. It seeks to maintain the faith taught by the apostles who were the eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and who first proclaimed the forgiveness of sins through his saving power.

Our churches also share the confession that believers and disciples are united together in to one communion through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. In recent ecumenical literature, the word koinonia or communion is often used to designate this oneness.

It reflects our communion in the life of the Trinity, our communion in the one faith and in charity, as well as the need for the visible elements of community that hold a body together and make it a witness to Christ in the world. The promise made by God to the Church is this: God remains faithful to his covenant and, despite the weaknesses and errors of Christians, he makes his Word heard in the Church.

The Ecumenical Christian Dialogues and the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Jeffrey Gros

For the Reformed Churches it may seem that the Catholic Church allows its understanding of Episcopal order to prevail over the right teaching of the Word of God and the right administration of the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. While accepting that the sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism are celebrated in the Catholic Church, Reformed Christians are concerned that both these and preaching can be overpowered by Catholic positions on ministry and on the teaching authority of the magisterium in interpreting the Word… The Catholic Church for its part finds deficiencies in the ministry of the Reformed Churches for two reasons.

First, it views the ministry of Reformed Churches as being outside the line of ritual apostolic succession. Second, it views them as lacking the full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Reformed Churches concur on these two points but, of course, do not identify them as deficiencies. Catholics emphasize the visible understanding of the Church as a concrete, perfect society.

This is where Reformed Christians believe human beings experience the reality of the mystical Body of Christ most directly. They affirm that the Church is present wherever the Word of God is faithfully preached and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist faithfully celebrated within a congregation that is mutually caring and accountable. Where there is virtue , however, there also are harmony and unity , from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.

All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians , and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to " Catholic unity.

This unity , we believe , subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose , and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion , and does not cease praying to his Father , for the unity of his disciples: As you, Father , are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us,. This is because Christ , the Son of God , who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as 'alone holy ,' loved the Church as his Bride , giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.

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It is in her that "by the grace of God we acquire holiness. The Church is therefore holy , though having sinners in her midst , because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life , her members are sanctified ; if they move away from her life , they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses , of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What does " catholic " mean? First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People , therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God 's will may be fulfilled: Each particular Church is " catholic ".

In them the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ , and the mystery of the Lord 's Supper is celebrated In these communities , though they may often be small and poor , or existing in the diaspora , Christ is present , through whose power and influence the One, Holy , Catholic , and Apostolic Church is constituted.

In the mind of the Lord the Church is universal by vocation and mission , but when she pub down her roots in a variety of cultural , social , and human terrains , she takes on different external expressions and appearances in each part of the world. Who belongs to the Catholic Church? Even though incorporated into the Church , one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church , but 'in body ' not 'in heart. When she delves into her own mystery , the Church , the People of God in the New Covenant , discovers her link with the Jewish People , "the first to hear the Word of God.

To the Jews " belong the sonship , the glory , the covenants , the giving of the law , the worship , and the promises ; to them belong the patriarchs , and of their race , according to the flesh , is the Christ ", "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God ; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah , whose features remain hidden till the end of time ; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

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