Union with the Catholic Church is the goal of ecumenism, yet the very process of moving towards union works a change in Churches and ecclesial communities that engage one another in dialogue, and actual instances of entering into communion, do indeed transform the Catholic Church by way of enrichment. Let me add right away that when I say enrichment, I am referring not to any addition of essential elements of sanctification and truth to the Catholic Church—Christ has endowed her with all the essential elements. I am referring to the addition of modes of expression of these essential elements, modes which enhance everyone’s appreciation of the inexhaustible treasures bestowed on the Church by her Divine Founder. The “new reality” of visible unity among Christians should not be thought of as the coming together of disparate elements that previously had not existed in any one community: the Second Vatican Council clearly teaches that all the elements of sanctification and truth which Christ bestowed on the Church are found in the Catholic Church.[4] What is new, then, is not the acquisition of something essential that had hitherto been absent. Instead, what is new is that perennial truths and elements of holiness already to be found in the Catholic Church are given new focus or a different stress by the way they are lived by various groups of the faithful who are called by Christ to come together in perfect communion with one another, enjoying the bonds of creed, code, cult and charity in diverse ways that blend harmoniously.
