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Christian Unity and Institutionalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2024

Henry St John O.P.
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In a notable speech at the Vatican Council on November 20 last, the Archbishop of Westminster undertook, in the name of the hierarchy of England and Wales, to promote a fuller and more frequent dialogue with all Christians in this country of whatever denomination. The occasion was the opening debate on the Constitution de Oecumenismo. The Archbishop said that the hierarchy, for whom he spoke, gives its ready approval to this document and receives it with joy. It gives us the guidance of the Church’s supreme authority, which we have been awaiting, and clearly shows us its mind. Without this our ecumenical work could not make progress.

Soon after the publication of this speech it was announced from Lambeth Palace that the Archbishop of Canterbury had set up a Commission on Roman Catholic Relations, to be composed of experts from strategic areas throughout the whole of the country. They will be responsible, from the Anglican side, for the arrangement of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. It can hardly be doubted that there has been a causal connection between the Vatican speech and the Lambeth announcement, and we may hope therefore for the setting up, on our side, of a similar body to co-operate in organising this work.

It will not be out of place then to consider, on as wide a basis as possible and in a spirit of experiment, not only what are the most suitable topics, at the theological level, to embark on in dialogue, but, and this is more important, what are the presuppositions on either side with which eirenic discussion of these topics will inevitably be approached.

Type
Original Article
Information
Blackfriars , Volume 45 , Issue 526 , April 1964 , pp. 146 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © 1964 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

References

1 The Oecumenical Movement and the Unity of the Church, by Thomas Sartory, O.S.B.: Basil Blackwell; 35s. Institutionalism and Church Unity; a symposium prepared by the Study Commission on Institutionlism, Commission on Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, edited by Nilss Ehrenstrom and Walter G. Muelder; S.C.M.; 35s.

2 Tablet, Nov. 30, 1963, p. 1300.

3 Tablet, Oct. 20, 1962, p. 997.

4 Sir John Acton, 1863, quoted in Herder‐Correspondence, Oct. 1963, p. 3.

5 For a fuller and very enlightening account of the opposition of these two types of mind in the Vatican Council, see the first essay in Vatican II—A Struggle of Minds by the Dutch theologian E. H. Schillebeeckx, O.P.; Gill, Dublin, 1963, paper‐back edition.

6 See From Limbo to Heaven, An Essay on Redemption, by Vincent Wilkin, s.j., Sheed and Ward, paper‐back edition, 1961.

7 For the doctrinal portion of the Letter of the Congregation of the Holy Office to the Archbishop of Boston, 1949, explaining the Church's doctrine in its developed perspective and in condemnation of the Boston priest's insistence on the old perspective, see The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Aug. 1953, p. 132, or Approaches to Christian Unity by C. J. Dumont, O.P., Appendix II, p. 224, London 1959. For a good survey of the whole matter see The Wide World My Parish, by Yves Congar, O.P., ch. 10; Darton, Longman and Todd, 1961.

8 A full discussion of these and similar questions in the light of modern biblical scholarship will be found in God's Living Word by Alexander Jones, especially chapter 12, The Inspired Word; also in The Two Edged Sword by J. L. McKenzie, s.j., especially ch. I, The Sacred Books, and ch. 5, Cosmic Origins. Both books from Geoffrey Chapman, 1961.

9 In this it claims the support of Pope John's Encyclical Pacem in Terris; see the English Translation, p. 10, C.T.S., 1962.

10 An excellent discussion of the problem of freedom of religion will be found in Christian Unity, Maynooth Union Summer School 1961, Religious Freedom and the State, by Dr E. McDonagh, The Furrow Trust, 1962.

11 On the relation between Scripture and Tradition see The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism, by Louis Bouyer, Ch. 6, The Sovereign Authority of Scripture, Harvill Press, 1956. For the opposite view see Unitas, Winter, 1963, Non‐Written Apostolic Traditions, by Charles Boyer, s.j. On the relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches see The Eastern Churches and Catholic Unity, ed. Maximos IV Sayegh, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Herder‐Nelson, 1963. Also Chirstian Unity, Maynooth Summer School, The Eastern Churches, by Fr Pól Ó Súilleabháin, O.F.M.

12 Another book, similar to this, though by no means identical with it in scope and outlook, may be mentioned here. It is Unity—A History and Some Reflections, by Maurice Villain, Harvill Press, 1963. The study of both these together would provide as complete an introduction to ecumenism as could be desired, while either would be adequate to start with. For further study on particular points a number of books have been cited in the footnotes. These have been, as far as possible, such as are recently published, in English, easily accessible and moderate in price; many of them are obtainable in paper‐back editions.

13 Further reading on these lines will be found in Christ, Our Lady and the Church, A Study in Eirenic Theology, by Yves Congar, O.P., Longmans, 1957. Also for the indivisibility of the Church, The Idea of the Church, by B. C. Butler, 1956, and One and Apostolic, by Adrian Hastings, 1964, Darton, Longman and Todd.

14 S.C.M. Press, 1961.

15 The Newman Association, with a much extended dialogue in view, with other Christians, at university and professional level, is making considerable progress in organising tutorial groups, in which theological studies are based upon the Scriptures, the source of all revelation from which tradition grew. This reference back to the origins of our belief enables members of a group to understand systematic theology, as the interpretation of the sources of revelation, in its proper focus. It also enables them to carry on a fruitful dialogue with other Christians, to whom the Scriptures are the touchstone of belief. The traditional Catholic approach, in terms of natural law and scholastic idiom, has little meaning for non‐Catholics. The standard text‐book for these study groups is the Bible de Jérusalem, which will be obtainable in translation next year at latest. The function of the tutor is to indicate the method of using the Bible, to guide discussion and to advise on further reading. In the near future we shall need a growing number of priests theologically and biblically competent to give this guidance.