While this caution was sound advice when dealing with those who have formally defected from the Church, it is less applicable in circumstances where non-Catholic views are held bona fide, and there is no animus toward the Catholic nor any desire to ruin his faith. . (Mk. 170-171. Real ecumenism does not mean whitewashing over our differences in order to proclaim a superficial unity. 9.See G. L. Prestige, God in Patristic Thought (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008), especially Chapter 13, “The Triumph of Formalism,” pp. The Catholic hope for the eventual union of all Christians does not imply that ecumenism is just another word for conversion: …when individuals wish for full Catholic communion, their preparation and reconciliation is an undertaking which of its nature is distinct from ecumenical action. The Council derides false irenicism, where we try to cloud the meaning of Catholic doctrine or subtract from its contents, as being absolutely foreign to the spirit of ecumenism. On the one hand, catholicity is proper to the Catholic Church, as expressed in her name and as indicated in the marks of the Church of the Creed, which Lumen Gentium identifies with the Catholic Church. And what is Christian tradition, in its actual content, if not precisely Scripture as read in the Church and by the Church? Und: Benutzen, seit Franziskus vom "Geruch der Herde" gesprochen hat, den die Hirten haben sollten, manche Prälaten kein Rasierwasser mehr? Since the whole point of ecumenism is to remove needless obstacles to unity in faith, its purpose is defeated if Catholic doctrine is misrepresented. He was convinced that the war was still going on and he was still on his mission. While officially supporting the institutional ecumenical movement solely with Unitatis Redintegratio, the Decree on Ecumenism of Vatican Council II, she participated from the outset in prayer for Christian unity and in spiritual ecumenism. 9:38) All good works, great or small, done in Christ’s name, are in favor of Christ and His Church. Ecumenism And Interreligious Dialogue: Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate (REDISCOVERING VATICAN II) by Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy. . The title in Latin means "Restoration of Unity" and is from the first line of the decree, as is customary with major Catholic documents (see incipitLatin means Lewi. Filed under: Reflections | Leave a Comment. Go back to The Vatican II Revolution 1. Rather, the fullness of catholicity is compromised in the plain sense that the Church’s universal jurisdiction is not acknowledged by all Christians. . This obstacle is particularly apparent in relation to the churches of the Reformation. It is not irritable or resentful [rather, it remembers the wrong done to others]. The phenomenon of formalism already began in antiquity once the creative phase of the great dogmas ended. Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor 4:5). The Catholic Church has never lost the unity that Christ bestowed on His Church; hence she alone can properly claim to be the one flock. It says that justification brings about a genuine renewal in the life of a baptized person—even if that righteousness never becomes an acquired possession on which a human being could base his or her relationship with God and is always dependent on the action of the Holy Spirit. Video April 27, 2014 Romeo Hontiveros. They are extremely opportune days of reflection and prayer to remind Christians that the restoration of full unity among them, according to the will of Jesus, involves every baptized person, both pastors as well as the faithful (see "Unitatis Redintegratio," No. The spokes begin at distant points of the circumference, but little by little as they get nearer the center, they get closer to each other until they form a single point. 8.See Thomas Aquinas, Summa teologica, II-IIae, q. The Council does not propose that the separated communities should content themselves with what unifying graces they have. Among the extant Christian sects of the West, only the Old Catholics (who deny papal infallibility) and related groups have a valid episcopate and Eucharist, and thus may be called particular Churches. Yet at the same time the doctrine should be clearly presented in its entirety. Rather, the Council considers the Church to already possess full unity in the Catholic Church, and so common worship with other Christians would generally serve to deny the Church’s real, visible unity, by giving the impression that Catholic unity is deficient. John E. Rotelle (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1994), p. 283. It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right [it does not rejoice in other Churches’ difficulties but rejoices in their spiritual success]. Understanding the perspectives of non-Catholic Christians is not an end in itself, but is a necessary condition for conveying the true situation and belief of the Catholic Church to them. We must keep in mind that being in communion is a much more intimate relation than mere association or similarity. ______________________, Translated from Italian by Marsha Daigle Williamson, 1.See Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (New York: Continuum International, 2006). This is because unity is conceived in terms of communion, which admits varying degrees of perfection. (LG, 8) The Council does not repeat the teaching here, for it has already declared its teaching on the Church. It is never once indicated that any of these bodies might be a duly constituted particular or local Church. 1. The contrast becomes misleading, however, if by “good works” we mean works of charity and mercy. An authentic theological renewal, therefore, would consist not in the denial of the truth of traditionally formulated teaching, but in complementing the traditional formulas with other expressions, which accentuate aspects of divine revelation that have not been fully captured or expressed by the older formulas. The way in which this coexistence of holiness and sin in redeemed human beings is understood can be open to various and complementary explanations. 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