By chhotebhai

Kanpur, Jan 16, 2022: Ecumenism, or the promotion of Christian unity, is an integral part of the Synodal journeying together, on which the Catholic Church has embarked under the visionary leadership of our beloved Pope Francis.

The Church Unity Octave that is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere between January 18 and 25 every year was established in 1966, shortly after Vatican II.

This was a joint venture of the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches that was established in 1948 with 350 member churches. However, as with most Gospel values and Vatican II teachings, the seeds of ecumenism have been strewn by the wayside, devoured by the birds of the air, and therefore have not reaped the desired harvest of a hundredfold (cf Mat 13).

Fortunately, the Federation of Asian Catholic Bishops’ Conferences’ (FABC) Office for Ecumenism and Inter-Religious Affairs chose to think otherwise. It organized a webinar January 12 spearheaded by Father Gilbert Aranha, its executive secretary, now based in Rome.

Ninety participants from across Asia had registered, but eventually 78 could participate, probably because of connectivity problems. I was among the privileged 78 that included bishops, clergy, religious and laity. Even my connection was disrupted, but Gilbert graciously sent me the transcripts of the main inputs. They merit our attention.

The keynote address was by Sister Nathalie Becquart, a member of the Congregation of Xavières and the Undersecretary for the Synod. She said that the Synod must re-establish that unity among Christians for which the Lord had prayed in his farewell discourse (cf Jn 17:21). Echoing Vatican II teachings she said that we need to deepen our relationships with other Christian Churches with whom we are united in baptism; as dialogue with them has a special place in the Synodal journey.

“We are in the same boat as one human family in our common home” she said. So obviously if we don’t swim together we will sink together. Perhaps this is also a warning to those among us who pick holes in the functioning of other Churches. In the ecumenical field we cannot ignore the variety of conditions in different regions of the world, she said. Unity in diversity. She added that we cannot allow ethnicity, race or caste to have a negative impact on our “Journeying Together”. A lesson for us in India.

Quoting the Magnificat, Sister Nathalie said that we must break the rigidity of having leaders and followers, for “He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones and lifted up the lowly” (Lk 1:52). As such, neither big nor small, we are all protagonists; and no one can be considered a mere extra.

Hence it is imperative to move from the previous pyramidical structure of the Church to the fraternal model as envisaged by Vatican II, she said. She quoted Pope Francis saying that this was not a case of “Some of the bishops some of the time, but all of the Church, all the time”. Wonder how many bishops will take this to heart?

She rued that despite specific provisions in Canon Law there were still many parishes that didn’t have Parish Councils or for economic affairs (Finance Committees). Will our omnipotent, omniscient parish priests please read the writing on the wall? If power is not shared it will be snatched away one day, as happened in the French Revolution. She quoted Brother Alois of the Taize community in France that “We need to recognize our own weaknesses and ask other Churches to help us receive what we lack. This is called receptive ecumenism, which allows us to welcome what comes from others”.

Sister Nathalie ended her presentation with a poignant statement. “Once the Church stops, she is no longer church, but a lovely pious association, thereby keeping the Holy Spirit in a cage.” She seemed to be bang on target as we Asians tend to be cultic and ritualistic, seldom open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Going by the plethora of pious devotions – novenas, pilgrimages etc in India should we conclude that we have caged the Holy Spirit, the way the Government has reduced the CBI to a caged parrot? It is time to break the shackles and set the Spirit free to blow where it wills (cf Jn 3:8).

The second speaker was Irish Bishop Brian Farrell of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He shared his vast experience in years of ecumenical dialogue. He began by saying that it was providential that the Church got involved in ecumenism since Vatican II. There have since been bilateral dialogues with 15 different Churches, wherein much progress has been made. Despite differences there are areas of commonality where the Churches stand together for certain social principles and ideas.

He identified three “directions” for ecumenical dialogue that are rooted in history. The first is the look east direction towards the Orthodox Churches that have shared the same faith since the first millennium of Christianity. There is nearly full communion. All that remains are the sticking points of the teaching and governing authority of the Church. What he left unsaid is that it is precisely this that resulted in what Catholics call the Great Schism of the East in 1054!

Bishop Farrell’s second “direction” is aimed at the 16th century reforms initiated by Martin Luther, better known as the Reformation. Here he identifies the differences as those of sacramentality, ministry and ordination; but acknowledges that there is a commitment to search for deeper communion.

Again what he left unsaid is that the issues raised by Luther have remained largely unaddressed – (i) The commercialization of religion as then evidenced in the sale of Indulgences (ii) Sexual immorality that has now peaked with 219,000 cases of clerical pedophilia reported within 50 years in France alone, as also the sexual dalliances of some bishops in India, (iii) A highly clericalized church, leading Pope Francis to lament that “clericalism is the greatest scourge in the Church today”.

The third “direction” of ecumenism according to Bishop Farrell is what he describes is with the Pentecostal/ Evangelical/ Charismatic Churches. Here too there have been three decades of dialogue. Farrell states that these Churches are strongly committed to a mission of what they call the “pure Gospel”. This often results in tensions and sheep stealing. Devoid of theological jargon these Evangelical Churches are hell-bent on saving “pagans and idolaters (Catholics included)” from going to hell!

Relations with Evangelical Churches are indeed the most ticklish, as they emphasize Jesus’ Last Command to baptize all (cf Mat 28:19), whereas a service oriented Catholic Church emphasizes the Last Judgment based on reaching out to those in need (cf Mat 25:31-46). There is no doubt that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that emerged a few years after Vatican II has given due importance to the Holy Spirit and its charisms. However, here again, what began as a lay initiative has in turn morphed into another clericalized and institutionalized devotion, after getting the much sought after “recognition” from Episcopal bodies.

Bishop Farrell’s three “directions” need further reflection, but for now I shall revert to his presentation. Despite these differences Farrell says that in Synodality the first step is to listen to other Churches. “We have to learn to live with the totality of the Christian world and not just look at ourselves, and the other as different”. This again is classic Vatican II ecclesiology. Pre-Vatican, the Catholic Church was insular and isolated. Post-Vatican it sought to be fully inserted. Unfortunately, this is just one more example of the sabotage of Vatican II.

Bishop Farrell goes on to describe ecumenism as an exchange of gifts, rather than an accentuation of differences. For example, the Reformation brought Sacred Scripture back to the center of Christian spirituality and teaching. From the Orthodox Churches we can learn how synodality is put into practice.

Ecumenism, like synodality, cannot be a top to down approach. It must begin at the local or grassroots level. Hence bishops must find ways of bringing representatives of other churches into the synodal process. For this one would need to adapt to local circumstances as there can never be a “one size fits all”. For this the Catholic Church on its part must reach out to other Churches and tell them about our Synodal process and their part in it. This is a challenge for the bishops and clergy and must be accepted, says Bishop Farrell.

I hope and pray that this report on the webinar organized by Father Gilbert Aranha of the FABC will help the Catholic Church in its Synodal journey. I hope to add my own reflections in a subsequent piece.

(The writer is the convener of the Indian Catholic Forum)