Reflections on Ecumenism – Part 1: A Brief History of Ecumenical Approaches

Few things produce opposing positions, among both Catholics and Protestants, as much as ecumenism. Some reject it as a religious syncretism in which everyone gives up part of what they consider to be true Christian doctrine, while others consider it a movement inspired by the Holy Spirit that seeks to restore the unity of Christians, in accordance with the Lord’s will: “That they may all be one” (John 17:21)

Personally, I partly agree with both: with the former, in rejecting what they understand by ecumenism, since an ecumenism in which unity is pursued by sacrificing truth cannot come from the Holy Spirit[1].

And with the latter, in that it is God’s will that Christians be united. Saint Paul exhorted us to make “every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One Body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:3-5)

I would be incapable of doubting the upright intention of many of my separated brethren, who are even capable of giving their lives for Christ, that being an unquestionable testimony to the strength of their faith. And personally I am in favor of ecumenism, but of an ecumenism with the characteristics demanded by the Gospel, one that seeks unity not only in appearance, but by forming part of one body and sharing one and the same faith.

Ecumenical approaches throughout history

Although ecumenism seeks to “restore” the unity of Christians, the approach given to it throughout history has varied, something completely understandable since it is a “prudential” and not a dogmatic element, which can vary according to the moment and conditions of each period. What is not being questioned here is whether or not we should seek to restore unity among Christians; rather, the question is the best way to do so.

Pope Pius XI and the Encyclical Mortalium Animos

Pope Pius XI published in 1928 the Encyclical “Mortalium Animos” on “how true religious unity is to be fostered.” In it the Pope develops an approach known as “ecumenism of return,” which was the one the Church had followed until then, in which the restoration of unity among Christians is sought through the reincorporation of non-Catholic Christians into the full unity of the Catholic Church, abandoning their former faith.

Any participation or cooperation of Catholics in ecumenical meetings is rejected, because they are considered a slippery slope toward indifferentism and modernism[2].

Ecumenism after the Second Vatican Council

After the Second Vatican Council there is an opening and a change of approach in ecumenism. It no longer seeks only an ecumenism of return, since others are not asked to renounce their own history of faith; nor does it imply seeking uniformity in all expressions of theology, spirituality, liturgical forms, and discipline[3].

The most important exponent of this approach to ecumenism is the Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, of the Second Vatican Council, and in it it is urged that in ecumenical dialogue the whole doctrine be clearly presented, avoiding a “false irenicism” that could “harm the purity of Catholic doctrine and obscure its genuine and certain meaning”[4].

It is a matter of presenting the truth with charity, respect, but at the same time without attenuation, in search of unity in diversity: unity in what is fundamental (one and the same faith and doctrine), but with diversity in its expressions.

An example of this is found in the massive conversion of Anglicans who chose to return to the full communion of the Catholic Church, formally accepting the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus”. Through the institution of personal ordinariates, the communities of converts preserved elements of spirituality, liturgy, theology, history, and discipline that are part of the Anglican patrimony, but at the same time accepted the Catholic faith and doctrine in its entirety, recognizing the jurisdictional primacy of the Pope; they submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and to the other dicasteries of the Roman Curia according to their competencies.

Mutually exclusive approaches?

Although both approaches are different, I have always thought that both are not necessarily incompatible in what is fundamental, because there would be no reason to see the pursuit of individual conversions as excluding the fact that we walk together, learning to understand and respect one another, cooperating in those causes that are common to us, and remaining together in prayer.

It is a matter of accepting that we have differences that for the moment we cannot resolve, since that unity will be a grace of the Holy Spirit; but meanwhile we share what we have in common and, through dialogue, explore and discern in what other things we share the same faith, even though our way of expressing it may be different.

P.S.: In my next installment I deal with what I consider errors and deviations in current ecumenical praxis. I warn that it will be a mainly critical article, so those people who have an idea of Catholicism that involves agreeing with everything in this pontificate, including those things that are matters of opinion, had better refrain from reading it. I make this last observation because the last time I wrote a critical article, there were some people who accused me of being “schismatic” and “sympathetic to Lefebvrists,” which I assure you is not the case.

Author: José Miguel Arráiz