The two roads

There is an “ecumenism from the top”, conducted by church leaders in the form of major meetings and relations between the Churches. And there’s an “ecumenism from the bottom” in which the exchanges involve students and priests and in which each Christian plays a role in the journey towards full communion. The two processes are interlinked and Cardinal WALTER KASPER , who coined the definitions, speaks of them as two inseparable faces of the same medal. On the eve of the opening of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January) SIR Europe met Cardinal Kasper to review the state of ecumenical dialogue, which will have its key event in 2007 in the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (Sibiu, Romania, 4-9 September). What’s the importance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? “It’s the heart of our ecumenical work. Without the action of the Holy Spirit, our efforts to achieve the full communion of Christians would be vain. When Jesus prayed that they may all be one in him, he did not intend to leave us a commandment, but to invite us to prayer. And during this Week we wish to unite ourselves with this prayer of the Lord”. So ecumenism starts out from the bottom? “Certainly, it is very important in ecumenism not to involve just the top levels, but also to reach down to the bottom. For example, with the Greek Church there are fruitful exchanges thanks to which it has been possible to arrange the visit of twenty Orthodox parish priests to Rome and to permit twenty Catholic priests to go to Athens. It’s a relation that brings the communities closer together”. In 2006 significant progress has been made in the ecumenical process… “Undoubtedly. First of all, the international dialogue with all the Orthodox Churches was resumed. Then there was the Pope’s visit to Turkey, marked by the meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at Istanbul. That was followed by the visit to Rome of the Archbishop of Athens Christodoulos, which was truly an historic event. In addition, we also made progress in dialogue with the Churches of the Reformation with the visit to the Vatican of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. It was truly a very rich year and we are grateful to the Lord for it”. What are the relations with the Oriental Churches? “We are very close in faith to the Oriental Churches; the sacraments are the same; we have a similar episcopal structure. But there are differences, also of a dogmatic nature, on the Petrine ministry and dissimilarities in culture and mentality. That’s why patience is needed. But the process continues and I am convinced that perfect unity can be achieved”. With the Reformed Churches divergences of an ethical nature are also evident… “This is something new. Hitherto we did not have these differences because there was an implicitly accepted community of intentions. Now however disagreements are growing on questions such as homosexuality, divorce or euthanasia. We are somewhat saddened by this fact, but we must take cognisance of the new reality. Within the Protestant Churches, however, there remain important groups with which it is possible for us to collaborate in a productive way”. Can ecumenical dialogue foster peacemaking? “Undoubtedly. Many conflicts in the world have a spurious religious motivation. This obstacle needs to be overcome. And there is a need to demonstrate that reconciliation is possible after the crises and the conflicts. In this sense Christians have an essential role because they must be the first to give this witness. But that’s not all. The voice of the Church becomes stronger when we speak together”. The EU is looking eastwards. Can the process of enlargement foster ecumenism? “Without any doubt. In the past politics divided us; now it is helping us. The integration of the countries of Eastern Europe in the European Community is for them an opening up to the West. And we must reciprocate by opening ourselves to the East. As John Paul II said, ecumenism is an exchange of gifts and not a one-way process”. Don’t we also need to come to terms with the secularisation of the Old Continent? “In Europe the tendency to secularisation is worrying. And it is also caused by the division of Christians. So Christians are called to give common witness to the Christian roots of Europe. Europe cannot survive merely on economic foundations. It also needs the Christian values that shaped it in the course of the centuries”.