Truth in diversity

The visit to Rome of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion, opened on 19 November in an atmosphere of realistic optimism. The archbishop will remain in Rome until Saturday 21 November for a series of talks in the Vatican, a few days after the publication of the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus”, the provision presented by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with which the Holy See has laid down a way to accept those ministers of the Anglican Communion who request to be admitted to the Catholic Church while at the same time preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual tradition. Eagerly awaited in Rome, Archbishop Williams – the guest of Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity – participated in a colloquium promoted at the Gregorian University on Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, one of the greatest Catholic promoters of ecumenism in the twentieth century. Appearing together on the “Roman” scene, both Cardinal Kasper and Archbishop Williams presented their respective points of view on the state of relations between the two Churches, especially in the light of the new Apostolic Constitution. No “new way”. The Apostolic Constitution cannot be considered a way for “a new ecumenism”. In taking the floor at the colloquium – with Archbishop Williams at his side – Cardinal Walter Kasper wished to clear the field of any possible misunderstanding. He immediately referred to the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Reintegratio which, in number 4, “clearly distinguishes between the conversion of individuals or groups of persons on the one hand and, on the other, ecumenism as dialogue with the other Churches with the aim of achieving full communion”. The Constitution – said the Cardinal – was presented by many media as a new means for the promotion of Christian unity. “I repeat – he underlined -: there is no new ecumenism, nor any end to the old one”. “So – Kasper continued – nothing fundamentally has changed as regards the fundamental approach of Unitatis redintegratio“. “In contrast to proselytism – stressed the Cardinal -, ecumenism does not wish to force someone into something. Love respects the freedom of others and respects them also in their diversity”. In this sense, the cardinal spoke of an “ecumenism of consensus” which will continue to remain valid “also in future”: an ecumenism in which love for the other person “makes room for the legitimate differences and charism of the other Churches”. Precisely due to the complexity of the ecumenical process, it is clear – Kasper continued – that it is not a political programme aimed at extending the empire of the Church, as some have imagined in a ridiculous way, nor is it a diplomatic compromise founded on the minimum common denominator”. As Pope John Paul II said, “ecumenical dialogue in the truth” is “an exchange not only of ideas but also of gifts. Ecumenical dialogue cannot deprive us of our respective riches, but wishes mutually to enrich us. Through ecumenical dialogue we can learn from others how to be guided by the Spirit into all the truth (John 16:13), so that we can increasingly share in the fullness of Christ”.The half full glass. The response of Archbishop Rowan Williams was positive in spirit. “The ecumenical glass – he said, addressing the colloquium – is half full”. And he added: “Since Vatican Council II in the 1960s the Catholic Church has pursued a series of dialogues with the other Churches, including the Anglican Communion: dialogues that have produced a considerable number of agreements”. The Archbishop said he had read with a great deal of interest the latest book of his “beloved and respected friend” Cardinal Kasper, “Harvesting the Fruits” , in which the Vatican’s office for the promotion of Christian unity harvests the fruits of the theological dialogues with the Churches of the Reform. What emerges from the book is a “strong convergence” and as such the book – said Williams – must “be taken into serious consideration”. The Archbishop, naturally enough, also touched on the “points” that continue to divide the two Churches, citing in particular three questions: the question of authority, the nature of Primacy, and the way in which the universal Church is conceived. He also spoke of the ordination of women in the Anglican Communion. He then tackled – for the first time in public – the delicate question of the new Apostolic Constitution with which the Holy See has made provision to find a way to accept into the Catholic fold those in the Anglican Communion who request it. According to the Archbishop, the Vatican decision shows that there exist “signals of recognition” of diversities that in fact “do not compromise the unity of the Catholic Church”. “It is obvious” – Williams immediately added – that the provision “does not try to do what we said: it does not contribute to any formal recognition of existing ministries and independent decision-making abilities, but remains at the level of recognition of a spiritual and liturgical culture. As such, it is a pastoral response to the needs of some, but does not propose anything new from the ecclesiological point of view”.