Do you have an ecumenical spirit?

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goodcatholic

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Interfaith dialogue , tolerance for other denominations, other faiths and philosophies. Respect for those who follow different theologies.
Or do you prefer to stay in catholic circles? Are you annoyed by talk of the Pope conversing with Buddhists and Muslims?
I sometimes think the more you get into apologetics and debate on theology the more rigid you become. By defending your faith, you cement boundaries and have no desire to compromise with fellow Christians and other religions.
 
I’m not hard hearted yet, and I’m taking in as much apologetics, theology, and philosophy I can.

As a matter of course, the people at the Vatican charged with actually developing the ecumenical decrees, etc. have degrees in these areas and avoid being hard hearted.

Most of the public apologists that work at Catholic Answers don’t seem hard hearted either.

I think personality has a lot more to do with it than knowledge and defending the faith.
goodcatholic said:
By defending your faith, you cement boundaries and have no desire to compromise with fellow Christians and other religions.
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What does compromise mean to you? Does it mean setting aside true doctrine for the sake of unity?
 
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mrsdizzyd said:
What does compromise mean to you?
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The devil may well be in the detail but here goes. let me think…mmm
Allowing Anglicans to have communion or visit Confessional at a Catholic Parish.?
sorry that might way off base. I’ll try to think of a better example…
 
Just I’ve seen some Catholics frown at Pope Francis’ interest in ecumenism.
I think Im speaking mainly in broad terms here. Bishops of different denoms getting together and discussing where they agree on a unified stance to fight relativism. What point s they agree on about same sex marriage and homosexuality. How Christians in general are being marginalised by political correctness. Religious freedoms.
 
I didn’t realise “compromise” was such a dirty word. It doesn’t have to be.
 
goodcatholic said:
Allowing Anglicans to have communion or visit Confessional at a Catholic Parish.?
sorry that might way off base. I’ll try to think of a better example…
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The question is what will the Anglicans have done in order to be eligible for these sacraments and on what logical basis would they be denied the other sacraments?

If you are suggesting that Catholics just open up communion and confession just because it’s a “nice” thing to do, you aren’t talking about ecumenism. You are talking about settling aside true doctrine in order to get along.
 
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Compromise = losing your Faith

From Pope Benedict XVI
“The risen Lord instructed his apostles, and through them his disciples in all ages, to take his word to the ends of the earth and to make disciples of all people,” retired Pope Benedict wrote. “‘But does that still apply?’ many inside and outside the church ask themselves today. ‘Is mission still something for today? Would it not be more appropriate to meet in dialogue among religions and serve together the cause of world peace?’ The counter-question is: ‘Can dialogue substitute for mission?’

“In fact, many today think religions should respect each other and, in their dialogue, become a common force for peace. According to this way of thinking, it is usually taken for granted that different religions are variants of one and the same reality,” the retired pope wrote. “The question of truth, that which originally motivated Christians more than any other, is here put inside parentheses. It is assumed that the authentic truth about God is in the last analysis unreachable and that at best one can represent the ineffable with a variety of symbols. This renunciation of truth seems realistic and useful for peace among religions in the world.

“It is nevertheless lethal to faith. In fact, faith loses its binding character and its seriousness, everything is reduced to interchangeable symbols, capable of referring only distantly to the inaccessible mystery of the divine,” he wrote.
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goodcatholic said:
By defending your faith, you cement boundaries and have no desire to compromise with fellow Christians and other religions.
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I think “compromise” is not the right word here. I think “journey” may be a good word to use here.

Too many Catholics, especially here on CAF, think that they would be compromising their faith when they really wouldn’t be. There is a misplaced zeal about “compromising” among some people here on CAF that simply amounts to the person barking up the wrong tree.
 
We don’t live in a bubble. We live in the secular world. It’s impossible to stay just in Catholic circles.

The second most important Commandment is love your neighbour. All those non Catholics and not practising Catholics are our neighbours
 
We should love racists. That doesn’t mean we have to love racism. If Christians happen to be racists, that doesn’t mean we compromise our beliefs. But we keep open communication.

It may be a Christian who supports abortion happens to be a holier person than I. For that matter, the friend who smokes may be healthier overall than I. But neither the pro choice guy or the smoker is better because of their practice.

Neither would benefit from compromise. Some doctrines are true, others false, even if the media pushed smoking 50 years ago, like it pushes abortion rights now.
 
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I am interested in other religions, but I view them all through the lens of my Catholicism, if that makes sense. What is good and true in them, or similar to Catholic belief and practice, I acknowledge as coming in some way from God, or at least pointing to God as I believe to be most fully revealed in the Catholic Faith. I also see and acknowledge the ways in which other religions miss the mark, from my point of view as a Catholic.
 
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I love interfaith dialogue. It helps me see my own faith in new and refreshing ways. It also helps me to appreciate the good in other beliefs. I feel in no way threatened since I always knew other beliefs were out there.

And we should always be going deeper into our own faith, exploring, challenging, reconciling. Otherwise, aren’t we stagnant?
 
This morning I prayed at a joint worship with Christians from many denominations. We shared with the council and police all the good work that the churches are doing together. Food banks, homeless shelters, poverty intervention, Acts of Random Kindness, Street Pastors, good neighbours, etc.

The service was on the park opposite the Catholic church, and sadly it was not really supported by the Catholic church. I also spent time this morning with a Jew, who described herself as part of the remnant.
 
Shakuhachi said:
And we should always be going deeper into our own faith, exploring, challenging, reconciling. Otherwise, aren’t we stagnant?
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Ok. Just be aware of the climate we are in. The media has redefined “challenging” as coming to regard less and less, perhaps nothing, as absolutely true/false, or right/wrong, but everything is relative. If abortion feels wrong to you, then for YOU it is a sin. If a goddess feels true for some other devout Christian, for them it’s true. For now.

If someone or church regards certain doctrines as permanently true or right, well there is there is that word stagnant

I’m sure this isn’t what you meant by ecumenism, just a caution as to context.
 
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I grew up Protestant. I’m now Roman Catholic. I have Eastern Orthodox friends. I believe each Christian branch has much to offer the others. I believe Christianity is divided for a divine reason. There are aspects of the Gospel in which each branch excels and fails. The gifts are being strengthened, so that the body of Christ will be perfect. After years of discernment I reject the belief that any one branch has the entirety of truth at this point in time.
 
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@goodcatholic , you ask “Do you have an ecumenical spirit ?”

As a Catholic I hope I do .

The late Cardinal Hume , Archbishop of Westminster’s , words of greeting to Pope John Paul II before the celebration of Mass in Wembley Stadium , London were " One thing you have taught us is that to be Catholic is to be ecumenical ."

Saint John Paul II left us in no doubt about his commitment to ecumenism .

Some of his words …

" I thank the Lord that he has led us to make progress along the path of unity and communion between Christians, a path difficult but so full of joy. Interconfessional dialogues at the theological level have produced positive and tangible results: this encourages us to move forward. "

" At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of the ecumenical venture . "

" The Catholic Church embraces with hope the commitment to ecumenism as a duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love. "

" The entire life of Christians is marked by a concern for ecumenism; and they are called to let themselves be shaped, as it were, by that concern. "

" Along the ecumenical path to unity, pride of place certainly belongs to common prayer, the prayerful union of those who gather together around Christ himself. If Christians, despite their divisions, can grow ever more united in common prayer around Christ, they will grow in the awareness of how little divides them in comparison to what unites them. "

" A valuable result of the contacts between Christians and of the theological dialogue in which they engage is the growth of communion. Both contacts and dialogue have made Christians aware of the elements of faith which they have in common. This has served to consolidate further their commitment to full unity . "

" I, John Paul, servus servorum Dei, venture to make my own the words of the Apostle Paul, whose martyrdom, together with that of the Apostle Peter, has bequeathed to this See of Rome the splendour of its witness, and I say to you, the faithful of the Catholic Church, and to you, my brothers and sisters of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities: “Mend your ways, encourage one another, live in harmony, and the God of love and peace will be with you … The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 13:11,13). "
 
Rob2 said:
Along the ecumenical path to unity, pride of place certainly belongs to common prayer, the prayerful union of those who gather together around Christ himself. If Christians, despite their divisions, can grow ever more united in common prayer around Christ, they will grow in the awareness of how little divides them in comparison to what unites them. "
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Thanks for your great post Rob. I see myself more as Christian than Catholic. My concern is some people have a very separatist view of Catholicism. “we’re gonna make Catholicism great again” type view. Putting up walls. Keeping out visitors. Treating Catholicism like a country to belong to. An elite country full of patriotic Catholics who want to stay ‘purebred’.
hardly anyone here has mentioned Pope Francis. is he not popular on here? I need to find what he says on this.
 
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