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ECUMENISM-FUTURE Jan-19-2006 (1,120 words) Backgrounder. xxxi
Pope faces challenges, brings talents to ecumenical movement
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The morning after his election, Pope Benedict XVI told the College of Cardinals he was "prepared to do everything" in his power to promote Christian unity.
But like his predecessors, Pope Benedict knows that not everything is possible and that unity must be based on a fully shared faith.
In interviews with Catholic News Service before the Jan. 18 start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, ecumenical experts spoke about the talents Pope Benedict brings to the ecumenical movement and the challenges he faces.
Pope Benedict is no stranger to ecumenism.
In addition to his personal involvement in dialogues with Lutherans in Germany, all of the major agreements forged in Catholic dialogues with other Christians over the past two decades were vetted by him when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The theological dialogues are aimed at determining areas when Christian churches and communities share the faith, even if they may describe their teachings with different formulas, and identifying areas of important doctrine and practice where they have diverged so much over the course of history that they cannot claim a fullness of shared faith.
Many ecumenical observers have said that Pope Benedict brings new hope for Christian unity precisely because of his expertise as a theologian and his background as a scholar accustomed to being challenged by the ideas of his peers.
But good will, a strong conviction that Jesus wants his disciples to be one and a keen intellect are not always enough.
One of the most painful chapters of ecumenism for Pope John Paul II actually was beyond the scope of theology: tensions with some Orthodox churches caused by what they see as unfair competition from the Eastern Catholic churches.
In September the Roman Catholic-Orthodox international dialogue commission will attempt to get beyond the hard feelings and return to theology when it holds its first meeting since 2000.
Officials involved in the dialogue hope that talking about the existence of the Eastern Catholic churches within the context of a theological discussion about the structure of the church, the exercise of authority and the role of papal primacy will help the churches get past emotional and political problems and find a constructive way to move forward.
Russian Orthodox Father Andrew Louth, a professor of patristic and Byzantine studies at the University of Durham, England, told CNS that the Eastern Catholic churches, which share the Byzantine liturgical and spiritual heritage, can be an ecumenical problem "because they can suggest that the only difference between Catholic and Orthodox is their liturgical rite," which is not an obstacle to unity.
But while Catholics and Orthodox recognize they can learn from each other's spiritual traditions, they are more cautious about recognizing the theological, historical and practical benefits of the way the other organizes its church life.
Church leaders see the desire to want and to keep power as a temptation to be overcome, but Catholics and Orthodox alike believe that church structure is not simply a question of power; it must reflect Christ's will for his followers.
Catholics and Orthodox both recognize a need to balance the dignity and autonomy of local churches with the effective exercise of a central unifying authority, but it is a task neither can claim to have mastered, at least not to the satisfaction of the other.
The role of bishops, bishops' synods, the exercise of authority and the limits of primacy are issues that divide Catholics and Orthodox, just as they divide Catholics and other Christians.
Father Louth said, however, that the Orthodox are hopeful for the future of dialogue with Pope Benedict as the head of the Catholic Church.
"We expect to be able to talk to him," sharing a conviction that church unity must be based on the teachings of the early theologians of the East and West, an area of Pope Benedict's expertise, he said.
The Fathers of the Church are a common source of church tradition, particularly useful in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue because, while Christians were united when they wrote, their communities already demonstrated diversity in liturgy, spirituality and church structures.
Paul Murray, director of the Catholic Learning and Receptive Ecumenism Research Project at the University of Durham, said scholars who work in ecumenism also are hopeful about the future of Catholic ecumenical activity under the new pope.
"I hope that he will use his confidence as a great theologian to allow theologians back into the conversation," Murray said.
Murray, who organized an early January conference of bishops, theologians and ecumenical experts in Durham, said that at a time when so many of the dialogues appear to be stalled theologians can serve the church by "investigating possibilities."
A key concern in ecumenism today is "reception," the process by which Christians not only learn about the content of ecumenical agreements, but also start to incorporate those agreements into the lives of individuals and churches as a whole.
Reception has been successful, for example, in helping the Catholic Church and its faithful recognize Scripture as an essential part of tradition. At the same time, many Protestant denominations have discovered the importance of a weekly Sunday celebration of the Lord's Supper.
But the vast majority of participants at the January conference identified the area of authority and participation in church decision-making as the area where Christians -- particularly Catholics -- have the most to learn.
Various dimensions of the question continue to be discussed in the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue and in the dialogues with the Oriental Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran and Reformed churches.
But some Catholics fear that greater autonomy for local churches and a wider voice in decision-making are at the root of one of the new challenges for the ecumenical movement: deep differences among Christians over ethical issues.
For example, when North American members of the Anglican Communion decided to ordain an openly gay bishop and to bless homosexual unions, it led to a deep split within the Anglican Communion, forcing Anglican leaders to question their processes for decision-making and instruments for ensuring unity.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told a press conference in Durham that ethical differences risk creating further divisions within Christianity as some communities accept practices traditionally considered to run counter to Christian morality.
At his general audience Jan. 18, the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Benedict said "holiness of life" was essential for bringing Christians closer together.
As Cardinal Kasper said in Durham, if Christians cannot agree on what is holy and what is profane, they cannot hope to restore the unity of the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church."
END
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