Before the whole world let all Christians confess their faith in the triune God, one and three in the incarnate Son of God, our Redeemer and Lord. This shows itself in their private prayer, their meditation on the Bible, in their Christian family life, and in the worship of a community gathered together to praise God. In recent times more than ever before, He has been rousing divided Christians to remorse over their divisions and to a longing for unity. It serves to prepare the new historical features of the Church, not a new Church but a Church that is spiritually renewed and enriched. However, since these Churches and ecclesial Communities, on account of their different origins, and different teachings in matters of doctrine on the spiritual life, vary considerably not only with us, but also among themselves, the task of describing them at all adequately is extremely difficult; and we have no intention of making such an attempt here. The children who are born into these Communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin involved in the separation, and the Catholic Church embraces upon them as brothers, with respect and affection. It was promulgated on 21 November 1964 and represented a huge shift in the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, although signs of change had been evident earlier. W. Kasper (ed. With Jesus Christ and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it has definitively entered history and is present in the Church. Mission and ecumenism are two forms of the eschatological journey and the eschatological dynamic of the Church. Indeed, the Church does not only have an institutional dimension but also a charismatic one, as the Council emphasized (cf. Alice Sebold. It is the urgent wish of this Holy Council that the measures undertaken by the sons of the Catholic Church should develop in conjunction with those of our separated brethren so that no obstacle be put in the ways of divine Providence and no preconceived judgments impair the future inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 47; Lumen Gentium, nn. Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. Ecumenism: expression of the Church's eschatological dynamic. These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments and above all, by apostolic succession, the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are linked with us in closest intimacy. Copyright 2023 Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. Irondale, Alabama. The title of the document is taken from the opening words of the Latin text. Though the ecclesial Communities which are separated from us lack the fullness of unity with us flowing from Baptism, and though we believe they have not retained the proper reality of the eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Orders, nevertheless when they commemorate His death and resurrection in the Lord's Supper, they profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and look forward to His coming in glory. The Council candidly acknowledges that there are obstacles to full communion with the Catholic Church, caused by differences in doctrine, discipline, and ecclesiology. Leo XIII and Benedict XV paved the way for ecumenical openness. 3. However, in the spirit of the two great heralds of the Council, J.A. Author: Phil Crosby. The national and international dialogues that have been initiated since the Council have confirmed this profound communion of faith in the sacraments and in episcopal structure. Unitatis Redintegratio affirms that it is in the Eucharist where "the unity of the Church is both signified and brought about" (Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 2). 34 ff., 83 ff.). Online piracy needs to be dealt with itself, because people are just wholesale stealing people's work and not paying for it. Their ecumenical action must be fully and sincerely Catholic, that is to say, faithful to the truth which we have received from the apostles and Fathers of the Church, in harmony with the faith which the Catholic Church has always professed, and at the same time directed toward that fullness to which Our Lord wills His Body to grow in the course of time. Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mysterium Ecclesiae (1973), n. 1; also the Declaration Dominus Iesus (2000), n. 17. But their primary duty is to make a careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done or renewed in the Catholic household itself, in order that its life may bear witness more clearly and faithfully to the teachings and institutions which have come to it from Christ through the Apostles. No. [20] But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions made their appearance and quite large communities came to be separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame. The Biblical and liturgical movements, the preaching of the word of God and catechetics, the apostolate of the laity, new forms of religious life and the spirituality of married life, and the Church's social teaching and activity - all these should be considered as pledges and signs of the future progress of ecumenism. There from the glorious times of the holy Fathers, monastic spirituality flourished which, then later flowed over into the Western world, and there provided the source from which Latin monastic life took its rise and has drawn fresh vigor ever since. Ut Unum Sint, n. 11), even if they are not yet in full communion with her. Baptism is fundamental in all of this. And We, by the apostolic authority given Us by Christ and in union with the Fathers, approve, decree and establish them in the Holy Spirit and command that they be promulgated for the glory of God. Lumen Gentium, n. 8; Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. 2, end; 8, 9, 48-51, et al.). Yet they have retained a particularly close affinity with the Catholic Church as a result of the long centuries in which all Christendom lived together in ecclesiastical communion. Etenim quicumque in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis. The words of St. John hold good about sins against unity: If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 3, 27-28 gr.). I seldom look back, only forward in anticipation of the next greater now. Every renewal of the Church[27] is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. 11. 990; CONC. Such prayers in common are certainly an effective means of obtaining the grace of unity, and they are a true expression of the ties which still bind Catholics to their separated brethren. Later quotes indeed showed that the older . Moreover, in the East are found the riches of those spiritual traditions which are given expression especially in monastic life. [21] Cf. "Their ecumenical activity cannot be other than fully and sincerely Catholic, that is, loyal to the truth we have received from the Apostles and the Fathers, and in harmony with the faith which the Catholic Church has always professed" (Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 24). But we rejoice to see that our separated brethren look to Christ as the source and center of Church unity. Ad Gentes, nn. 18. What has just been said means that every particular Church which celebrates the Eucharist is a Church in the full sense of the word, but not the whole of the Church (cf. Each and all these matters which are set forth in this Decree have been favorably voted on by the Fathers of the Council. gentle in the service of others, and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity towards them. They derive their strength too from the living tradition of the apostles and from the works of the Fathers and spiritual writers of the Eastern Churches. Le Guillou, Mission et unit. I have been to Guantanamo. The perfect observance of this traditional principle not always indeed carried out in practice, is one of the essential prerequisites for any restoration of unity. 3 ff.). In this way too the outlook of our separated brethren will be better understood, and our own belief more aptly explained. These are: first, every effort to avoid expressions, judgments and actions which do not represent the condition of our separated brethren with truth and fairness and so make mutual relations with them more difficult; then, dialogue between competent experts from different Churches and Communities. Nor must we undervalue the fact that it was the ecumenical councils held in the East that defined the basic dogmas of the Christian faith, on the Trinity, on the Word of God Who took flesh of the Virgin Mary. To the extent that we are united to Christ, we will all be united to one another as well, and will actuate in all its fullness the catholicity proper to the Church. Introduction by Cardinal Kasper, Communio. Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All Catholics must therefore aim at Christian perfection[24] and, each according to his station, play his part that the Church may daily be more purified and renewed. 2 Cf. I also try to never make it personal. Therefore, without minimizing the differences between the various Christian bodies, and without overlooking the bonds between them which exist in spite of divisions, this holy Council decides to propose the following considerations for prudent ecumenical action. Lumen Gentium, nn. 28, 18-20, collato Jn. 3, Bologna, 1998, 277-365; vol. This people of God, though still in its members liable to sin, is ever growing in Christ during its pilgrimage on earth, and is guided by God's gentle wisdom, according to His hidden designs, until it shall happily arrive at the fullness of eternal glory in the heavenly Jerusalem. All in the Church must preserve unity in essentials. We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God. The Sacred Council exhorts all the Catholic faithful to recognize the signs of the times and to take an active and intelligent part in the work of ecumenism. DS 3921). Other divisions arose more than four centuries later in the West, stemming from the events which are usually referred to as The Reformation. 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