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john81
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I wish sometimes (OK, all the time) that he would just say “all people would join the True Church, the Catholic Church where there is Salvation” rather than the vanilla statement “reconciliation and full communion”. Sometimes I feel like I’m listening to a politician, not a pope
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FollowChrist34
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This is one subject where the Pope and I are soul-mates. Love it. I feel like the body of Christ is torn a thousand different directions. I’ve come to believe that God sees, loves and saves his flock according to his will. It’s the only thing that makes any sense to me. I do wish people would come to the fullness of the Catholic Church, but, honestly, I am just glad when I stumble on a real Christian anywhere in this world. Or when I act like one. 
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Tomdstone
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OK. The Catholic Church wants unity among Christians, and that includes unity with the Eastern Orthodox. But has the Catholic Church budged one iota from any of its teachings which are not accepted by the Eastern Orthodox? Is it reasonable to require all the other Churches to change their teachings so that they conform to Roman Catholic beliefs? I don’t see that happening.
Take a simple example of the date of Easter. Oftentimes we hear a Pope say that he would like to see a common date for Easter, where all Christians celebrate on the same day. Well, wouldn’t it be easy to have such if Roman Catholics agree to the Eastern Orthodox calculation of the date of Easter?
Take a simple example of the date of Easter. Oftentimes we hear a Pope say that he would like to see a common date for Easter, where all Christians celebrate on the same day. Well, wouldn’t it be easy to have such if Roman Catholics agree to the Eastern Orthodox calculation of the date of Easter?
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chero23
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Unfortunately we are doing a bad job in staying united.
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john81
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How could this be? Are not the four marks of the Church: ONE, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic? Did Christ’s promise to St. Peter that the Church would stand the test of time already expire?
The Body of Christ is One, and only through that Body is salvation attained.
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Eternal_One
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My friend is Orthodox and I asked him if he thought it was possible for our Churches to ever become unified and he said he did not think so. One reason being that neither side is willing to budge and neither side is willing to give up their leadership or “power.”
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ProVobis
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Everyone should get a dog and/or a cat and just talk about them.
If it works for me and my Muslim neighbors (I helped them find their cat once), it should work with Christians.
If it works for me and my Muslim neighbors (I helped them find their cat once), it should work with Christians.
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RosslynV
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Unity already exists within the catholic church.
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Tomdstone
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Not sure. There seem to be a whole lot of divisions. Have you ever taken a course in Catholic theology at a Roman Catholic university, given by a Roman Catholic professor?
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johnnyc176
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Has nothing to do with power. Truth.
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johnnyc176
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Really? So you found Truth in your dog and cat?Everyone should get a dog and/or a cat and just talk about them.
If it works for me and my Muslim neighbors (I helped them find their cat once), it should work with Christians.
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Tomdstone
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What is the truth about the Council of Constantinople and the Nicene Creed. Didn’t they infallibly declare that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. Didn’t they warn about changing the creed by adding or subtracting anything? What is the truth about that?
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Justin_Swanton
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For the past four years I’ve work with a staff composed of Hindis and one Moslem. We get along fine. I’ve learnt that a person can have peculiar ideas in his head and remain good (though I won’t go down the path of discussing to what extent false ideas undermine that goodness).Everyone should get a dog and/or a cat and just talk about them.
If it works for me and my Muslim neighbors (I helped them find their cat once), it should work with Christians.
If there is anything to lament in the ‘divisions among Christians’ (which seems more an ecumenical catchphrase than anything else) it is the fact that non-catholics are missing out on so much spiritual help in the Church - or would be if contemporary parishes functioned properly. I can visit very few local churches on Sunday without crossing my fingers, and I would never think of taking a potential convert to one. Right now, the Church’s overriding preoccupation is putting its own house in order. Only once that job is done will Catholics really be able to focus on the conversion of non-catholics.
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ProVobis
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Hey, I said it in jest. We’ve had divisions since Sts. Peter and Paul. Who said anything about Truth? When it comes to division, whatever works. In my neck of the woods, senior centers give all churches some competition. They have bridge clubs, free meals every day, low-cost transportation, etc.
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LongingSoul
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We badly need the Protestants to ‘come over’ and teach us the secrets of how to capture and mould our youngsters. We have a massive non denominational Church in our region that has grown from a small brick Church and Primary School into a huge preschool through Senior campus. They seem to turn out hoards of the most community minded, well mannered, outreaching, positively counter cultural, sexually chaste, well rounded young men and women you could imagine. You used to be able to say that about Catholic schools many moons ago.
I’ve done retreats and spiritual days with lots of Protestant parents of my generation and there is a marked difference in their attitude towards passing on the faith to their kids to the Catholic parents I know. I know that many people try to get youth clubs going and engage the young… but they never seem to catch on to any great extent. What are we missing? My daughter tags along with some of her work friends who belong to the Church, to their open mike cafe nights and things. The negative for her is that they do exerpt quite a lot of pressure to come to their bible studies and services along with it.
I’ve done retreats and spiritual days with lots of Protestant parents of my generation and there is a marked difference in their attitude towards passing on the faith to their kids to the Catholic parents I know. I know that many people try to get youth clubs going and engage the young… but they never seem to catch on to any great extent. What are we missing? My daughter tags along with some of her work friends who belong to the Church, to their open mike cafe nights and things. The negative for her is that they do exerpt quite a lot of pressure to come to their bible studies and services along with it.
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FollowChrist34
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The Pope is talking about divisions between Christians, buy, hey, there are divisions among us all ad infinitum, right? I mean, how boring it would be without them. I read somewhere recently where someone said that basically it boils down to the decent and indecent. (Frankly I think we all have a little of both - the key is which is predominant). I never underestimate the simple yet really wonderful value of seeing and connecting with good in others. And also see their bad and reject it. Just doing that can take you a very very long way in life. (This doesn’t fulfill or replace your duties as a Christian or a Catholic, of course; it’s just an important part of it.)
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Erich
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Actually, as of the First Council of Nicea (325), both Catholics and Orthodox celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (reckoned to be on March 21, though this does not always coincide with the astronomical equinox). The difference in the dates of when Easter is celebrated is due to the fact that March 21 in the older Julian calendar corresponds (at the moment) to April 3 in the newer Gregorian calendar – so Orthodox Easter is for the most part later than Catholic Easter (though every once in a while they fall on the same date). Starting in March of 2100 (and for the next 100 years after that), March 21 in the Julian calendar will correspond to April 4 in the Gregorian.
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Erich
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From March 2200 through February 2300 (Gregorian) the difference with the Julian calendar will be 15 days, from March 2300 through February 2400 (Gregorian) the difference will be 16 days, etc. The motivation for the Gregorian calendar reform was to bring the date for the celebration of Easter back to the time of the year in which the First Council of Nicaea had agreed upon in 325.
As you can see, there will eventually come a time that the Orthodox will be celebrating Easter when the rest of us (in the USA at least) will be celebrating Memorial Day or Independence Day – assuming of course that the Second Coming hasn’t already happened by then!
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RosslynV
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No but I have an MBA
there is no division within the catholic church. Are you saying that there is no unity within the catholic Church?Protestants can obtain unity by converting to the Catholic faith plain and simple. I don’t think Francis ever said that though. Just my humble opinion – could be wrong.
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