Ecumenism a ‘priority,’ Ontario bishops say
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - Ontario’s Catholic ecumenical officers are delivering a wake up call to parishes across the province in January.In a 400-word letter to priests, deacons, religious and laity, Ontario’s dozen directors of ecumenical and interfaith affairs are reminding parish leadership that “it remains an essential priority to stay focused on the common pursuit of the unity of all Christians.”
The letter, endorsed by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, should be in pastors’ mail boxes the first week of January.
It’s up to pastors to invite neighbouring churches to join with their parishes in Week of Prayer for Christian Unity activities and liturgies, and it’s the job of the laity to pray for unity, says the letter. Getting parishes living ecumenically is not some whim of certain pastors or bishops, said Fr. Damian MacPherson, archdiocese of Toronto director of ecumenical and interfaith affairs.
“It (ecumenism) renews and strengthens us in our faith when we dialogue with others about theirs,” MacPherson said. “That’s clearly a teaching of the Church.”
Anyone who thinks praying with Protestants or studying the Bible with the Orthodox is somehow un-Catholic is barking up the wrong tree, according to MacPherson.
“The people who harvest those kinds of insular attitudes need to go back and read the Church documents,” he said.
The letter to parishes commemorates the 15th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint (“May they be one”) and also contains references to the Vatican II declaration Unitatis redintegratio (“Restoration of unity”).
The letter was necessary because many parishes seem to have lost any sense that they have a responsibility for Christian unity, said MacPherson.
“There was a need to renew the energy and revitalize the spirit,” he said. “This is a vital part of the life of the Church.”
Bishops should welcome the wake-up call to parishes, said Saint Paul University theologian and ecumenist Catherine Clifford.
“One of their primary responsibilities is to watch over bonds of communion,” she said.
Sidelining ecumenism to concentrate on issues of Catholic identity is a mistaken notion from the get-go, Clifford said.
“To suggest that ecumenism threatens Catholic identity is to misunderstand the very nature of ecumenical commitment,” she said in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “There can be no truly Catholic identity without commitment to ecumenism, for ‘to believe in Christ means to desire unity’ (Ut unum sint). Division contradicts the Gospel and weakens our ability to proclaim the Gospel to the world. A true Christian can never become resigned to disunity.”
Getting parishes committed to ecumenism now is particularly important given the splits in the Anglican communion and the strains in some other churches, said Clifford
“When a sister or brother is in crisis, we do not abandon them, but stand with them in solidarity — even though we may disagree on things,” she said. “The bonds of baptism, more than blood ties, are deeper than the crisis of the moment.”
The 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated Jan. 18 to 25.
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