Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

APPENDIX 6 UT UNUM SINT 210
In 1995 Pope John Paul II put out a reflection on the words of Jesus „that they all may be one‟
(John 17.21). It is strongly in the spirit of the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism and offers
hope to those who are trying to further meaningful „spiritual ecumenism„ today.
Pope John Paul II held that „many elements of sanctification and truth can be found outside
her (the Church of Rome‟s) visible structure‟. The Catholic Church is linked to other
Christian bodies by the union of the Holy Spirit. The Pope quotes from the Decree on
Ecumenism to state: „All the justified by faith through baptism are incorporated into Christ‟,
so they should be seen as brothers and sisters.
The phrase „justified by faith through baptism‟ is interesting in that it clearly asserts that
baptism is a sacrament conferring grace but that the justification it stands for must be
appropriated by faith. So personal conversion is needed for justification to be real. Stressing
the need for „internal conversion‟ and quoting Vatican II again he writes: „There can be no
ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart.‟
The Pope calls for a „spiritual ecumenism„ involving a repentant heart, the pursuit of holiness
and prayer for unity. He is very earnest about the value of ecumenical prayer and urges
Christians to meet „more often‟ and „more regularly‟ for united prayer. Hopeful signs of the
convergence of views are seen in what is already happening when Protestants and Catholics
have Bible study and worship together.
But Ut Unum Sint sees the goal of complete and visible unity as only finally possible with
„the acceptance of the whole truth into which the Holy Spirit guides his disciples‟ (p 43). This
is why more space is given in this document to Catholic relations with Eastern Orthodoxy
than with Protestantism. Both these traditions of the Church hold a belief in the apostolic
succession of their bishops, a high regard for Mary and the saints, and a sacramental theology
which is at the root of all their worship.
Relations between Protestantism, Catholicism and Orthodoxy are made difficult by the great
variety of Protestants that exist, and their suspicion about the place of „tradition‟ in relation to
Scripture. Of course, Orthodoxy is unhappy about the additions to the faith of the
„Undivided‟ Church that Rome has made, and the claim of infallibility of the Papacy, but
Rome is „nearer to Constantinople than it is to Geneva‟. Pope Paul VI proclaimed St Benedict
patron of Europe, and in 1984 John Paul II did the same for Cyril and Methodius, the
founding saints of European Orthodoxy, making them co-patrons with Benedict.
Ut Unum Sint makes it clear that fellowship with Rome‟s „separated brethren‟ in
Protestantism and Orthodoxy is to be enjoyed here and now, but the document also makes
submission to the authority of the Catholic Church the basis for complete unity.
210 Ut Unum Sint, a 115-page booklet published by the Catholic Truth Society in 1995.
Page 177