Epistemic objectives for ecumenical formation: a Catholic perspective

Ecumenical relations are a complex and delicate reality which require study and theological dialogue, fraternal relations and contact, prayer and practical collaboration. We are called to work in all fields. Being limited to one or another of them while neglecting the others can never produce results. This global view of ecumenical activity must always be kept in mind when we present or explain our involvement. (1)

Pope John Paul II

Let me begin with a question. Why train some folks in ecumenics? Surely for a scope: a certain theological and ecclesial achievement. The original injunction for ecumenical engagement, contains the objective: "That the world might believe" (John 17:21b). Unity was conditional, for the cosmic messianic acknowledgement of Jesus of Nazareth. Facing a quasi-cosmic phenomenon of secularization, Christian divisions become immediately scandalous, ecumenism urgent, and Christian unity vital. The urgency of ecumenism makes ecumenical formation crucial. But what type of formation and for what objectives? Critical evidence shows that the goal of ecumenism has not always been homogeneous. George Lindbeck argues, for instance, that what he dubs "ecclesiastical unitive ecumenism" served purposes other than theological. He contends that the age of the attractiveness of ecumenism lasted until Catholics joined the movement:

   To be sure, there were also other non-theological factors that
   enhanced the attractiveness of ecumenism and thereby also the
   acceptability of university theology. Some anti-Catholic
   were favorably disposed toward ecumenism until the time Rome
   itself joined the movement in the early sixties. Up to that
   point they hoped to use what had been a predominantly
   Protestant movement to counter what they perceived as a dangerous
   rise in Catholic power. (2)

Lindbeck juxtaposes two further objectives: the desire to utilize the ecumenical movement as an instrument in cold war politics, where ecumenism was supposed to have an anti-communist potential, and a desire for a "worldwide federation of churches including the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox", to launch a nonviolent struggle against Fascist and Nazi tyrannies and other forms of oppression. (3) Lindbeck argues that such pragmatic or non-theological ecumenical enthusiasms have largely vanished in recent decades, but the allusion to objectives with utilitarian geopolitical overtones creates a necessity for revisiting the polity, the content and the teleology of the ecumenical formation episteme.

Let me hurry to the point. The aim of any educational programme is to unleash the intellectual potential of students to serve amid life's struggles. For the ecumenical movement, the struggle remains how, despite the vast gamut of divisions which afflict the human family, we can find a path by which one human family, freely united in truth, justice and love, may come into being. Critically, it is ironic and counterproductive to Christian identity and mission for Christians to live divided and nevertheless project love and reconciliation as essential ingredients of their faith. Only a reconciled church can carry forward a credible mission of healing and reconciliation.

This seems to situate the ecumenical formation discourse within a larger framework of ecumenicity, embracing the scope of labouring to assist the whole of humankind and the whole created order to live in affirming, positive, interdependent and harmonious relationships. (4) This is a sacred obligation, belonging to the specific mission and identity of the church; it is a goal which qualifies the ecumenical task first of all as a search for unanimity of spirit, aiming at reconciling humanity in the face of historical legacies of division and strife. Consequently, the aim of an ecumenical formation programme must be to help the movement to fulfill this mission.

In view of that, the Roman Catholic Church is interested and participates fully in the WCC programme that directly fosters ecumenical formation, prompted by the conviction that such an important task deserves full backing. With the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church officially declared its irrevocable commitment to ecumenism. Thus, it is legitimate to probe whether the quest for a visible unity of the church is ultimately the goal of ecumenical formation or not, and this not only poses a meaningful question hut also asks one that must be answered if a deeper understanding of the objectives of ecumenical formation is to be attained. The issue of unity among visibly divided Christians seems to demand visible programmatic efforts that aim at a visible unity among people who confess Christ as their redeemer, so that the world may believe.

What I want to do in the following pages is to argue what an ecumenical formation programme ought to take into consideration, if it is to be instrumental to the aims of the ecumenical movement. The limitations to the content of my arguments derive from my limited but important experience as one who works to form future ecumenists. The courage to launch my arguments derives from a firm conviction that the ecumenical movement needs cadets who are to be well-formed to become effective ambassadors of unity. The ecumenical ground remains a delicate missionary territory, demanding a lot of caution as one tries to fulfill the testament of the one who was about to die for us: "That all may be one" (John 17:21). (5) Because of the delicate nature of this task, those who will be called to tread its ground need to be "well-sharpened" to be able to cut through the difficulties involved in the mission. The walls of division constructed across many centuries create an impression that they stand so tall as to block the light and so thick as to defy any attempts to penetrate them. Small wonder, then, that some critics of the ecumenical endeavours easily qualify training in ecumenics as a kind of social project, where people who disagree on many issues manage at best to stay together and perhaps to engage in discussion for an agreed span of time. For other critics, ecumenism best qualifies as an attempt to gloss over unresolvable tensions with dignity. Such attitudes obviously jettison the ecumenical formation project at its core.