Unity and mission

He was the first Vatican representative who delivered his address at the Lambeth Conference. The most important reunion of world primates representing the Anglican Communion is being held in Canterbury (July 16 – August 4). Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples was personally invited to deliver his speech during the plenary meeting devoted to evangelization by archbishop Rowan Williams. His Eminence called the bishops to unity. In his address – whose excerpts we report – the Cardinal never referred to the problems that are dividing the Anglican Communion (regarding gay marriage and the consecration of women bishops). Rather, he clearly declared that the credibility of Christian witness to the world depends on the unity of its Church members. Appeal to unity. “The unity and cohesion of the members of the Church, between them and their shepherds, and, above all, between the shepherds themselves”, is the unique prerogative for the Holy Spirit to flow unhampered and spread the Gospel to the world. But, “when the diversity degenerates into division, it becomes a counter-witness which seriously compromises their image and endeavours to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. During the Conference’s Plenary session on “Proclaiming the Good News: Bishops and Evangelisation”, Cardinal Ivan Dias made an appeal to unity. In order to illustrate this concept, His Eminence made use of a metaphor. “Much is spoken today of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. By analogy, their symptoms can, at times, be found even in our own Christian communities. For example, when we live myopically in the fleeting present, oblivious of our past heritage and apostolic traditions, we could well be suffering from spiritual Alzheimer’s. And when we behave in a disorderly manner, going whimsically our own way without any co-ordination with the head or the other members of our community, it could be ecclesial Parkinson’s”. Challenges to Evangelisation. Speaking at the plenary session of the 650 bishops attending the 14th Lambeth Conference, His Eminence outlined the context and the “challenges” of Evangelisation today. These include “secularism, which seeks to build a Godless society; spiritual indifference, which is insensitive to transcendental values; and relativism, which is contrary to the permanent tenets of the Gospel”. All these – the Cardinal declared – “foster a culture of death”. He pointed out that examples of this culture are “abortions (or the slaughter of innocent unborn children), divorces (which kill sacred marriage bonds blessed by God)”; “economic, social and political injustices (which crush human rights)”. Thus, “two vital institutions of the human society are particularly vulnerable to such a culture of death: the family and the youth”. These must therefore “receive the special attention, guidance and support” of the bishops. We must also be aware, His Eminence claimed, “of the many modern Areopagoi” which “need to be evangelised today”. These are notably “the mass media, the world of science and technology, of politics and social communications, of refugees and migrants, and others”. Faced with these challenges, Christians “can ill afford to remain on the sidelines as passive spectators”. “True to our mission to be salt of the earth and light of the world we must be pro-active” in “reading the signs of the times and projecting our missionary thrust”. This Christian witness “is what the world needs today”. However, the Cardinal pointed out, “our contemporaries believe more willingly in witnesses, than in teachers”. The gist of dialogue. In broaching the subject of inter-religious dialogue, His Eminence highlighted the approach to be held in opening up to the other: “Dialogue is never an attempt to impose our own views upon others, since such dialogue would become a form of spiritual and cultural domination; nor does it mean that we abandon our own convictions. Rather, it means that, holding firmly to what we believe, we listen respectfully to others, seeking to discern all that is good and holy and all that favours peace and co-operation”.