“We Have Given Up This Ecumenism of Return.”

The Anglo-Catholic ^ | 5/7/10 | Christian Campbell

[marshmallow]

Fr. Z has posted an amusing interview wherein our favorite ecumenist, Walter Cardinal Kasper, shares his thoughts about the ongoing dialogue between the Holy See and the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X. Had I the time or the inclination, I would, no doubt, have a field day with most everything that His Eminence had to say about the Holy Father’s pastoral, charitable, and indeed courageous outreach to the estranged SSPX, but the last little bit of the interview especially struck me.

“They’ve attacked me as a heretic,” he said with a smile.

Asked why the ultra-traditionalists opposed ecumenical dialogue so strongly, he said: “Some people feel threatened in their Catholic identity when we speak with Protestants.

“We need to have a Catholic identity,” he said. “But we need an open and mature identity, not a closed one. That’s not a mature identity.”

Now I am not prepared to brand this illustrious Prince of the Church a heretic — today, at least — but I would humbly suggest that perhaps — just perhaps — the “ultra-traditionalists” in question might be justifiably concerned when the (lame duck) president of the Pontifical Council charged with promoting Christian unity is on record seemingly disavowing the ecumenical objective of the corporate reintegration of separated Christians with the Catholic Church. In early March, during a five-day visit to the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Cardinal Kasper was interviewed by Denis O’Hayer of WABE 90.1 FM, the local PBS radio station.

O’Hayer: Again, as I recall, at the beginning [of the ecumenical movement], the idea was that the other denominations would accept or somehow come to realize that the Church was the One True Church — the Catholic Church was. Is that accurate? … First of all is that perception accurate, and secondly, is that still the premise for the Catholic Church’s approach to ecumenism?

Kasper: Well, we have given up this ecumenism of return.

Really? Perhaps this new approach to ecumenism was one of those novel ideas that originated in the Second Vatican Council and about which those uptight SSPXers are always going on about? Hmm… let’s check the decrees of Vatican II…

Nevertheless, our separated brethren, whether considered as individuals or as Communities and Churches, are not blessed with that unity which Jesus Christ wished to bestow on all those who through Him were born again into one body, and with Him quickened to newness of life-that unity which the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Tradition of the Church proclaim. For it is only through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is “the all-embracing means of salvation,” that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation. We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God. This people of God, though still in its members liable to sin, is ever growing in Christ during its pilgrimage on earth, and is guided by God’s gentle wisdom, according to His hidden designs, until it shall happily arrive at the fullness of eternal glory in the heavenly Jerusalem.

(Unitatis Redintegratio, no. 3)

While Cardinal Kasper may have given up on Our Blessed Lord’s prayer “ut omnes unum sint,” thankfully the Holy Father has not. And this, I think, is what really gets under the skin of these aging ecumenists. For them, it seems, the conversation alone is sufficient. They have evidently convinced themselves that genuine unity is impossible, that all we can hope for is ‘dialogue’ (a/k/a cocktails at Lambeth Palace). Or, perish the thought, they no longer truly believe “that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth.” While they talk, the Pope acts.

1. Dialogue matures into a mutual understanding and culminates in a common confession of the Faith. 2. Doctrinal consensus having been achieved, the desire for genuine unity follows as a matter of course. 3. Respectful of the legitimate patrimony and spiritual gifts of the separated community, the Church provides “a communal and ecclesial way” for it to return to the fullness of her communion.

The formula is quite simple, after all. Indeed, it’s found in the pages of the Holy Gospel. Where the professional ecumenists have imagined only complexities and obstacles difficult, if not impossible, to overcome, contenting themselves with endless (but no doubt pleasant) dialogue, Benedict XVI, impelled by Our Lord’s mandate and requiring of separated brethren only that which is demanded by the Holy Gospel, has found a way forward. And God bless him for it!

[WriteOn]

Fortunately those returning seem to have a greater understanding of unity and the value of returning than the good Cardinal, bless him.