O God, who taught the whole world through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Paul, draw us, we pray, nearer to you through the example of him whose conversion we celebrate today, and so make us witnesses to your truth in the world.
“Today, there is a great need for reconciliation, dialogue and mutual understanding,” in contemporary culture, said Pope Benedict XVI.
Let’s pray for the unity of Christians…
Back on 31 October 2012, Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk
delivered a lecture dedicated to the past and present of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue at Villanova University (Philadelphia, PA). The 46 year old Metropolitan earned a doctorate from Oxford University and was ordained a bishop in 2002. In addition to being a residential bishop he is also the head of the Department of the External Church Relations since 2009. He is a widely published author and an excellent musician of international repute. The two Churches share the same concerns, though there are nuances to be made but that is a conversation for another time.
I think it is apropos to give a few extracts from the Metropolitan’s talk that pose some points for reflection on the unity of Christians. Remember we beginning the octave of Christian Unity on the 18th.
“The teaching of the holy fathers of the first millennium, when the Churches of the East and the West abided in unity, although at times this unity was subjected to serious trials, is the sure foundation upon which dialogue between Christians can develop successfully and fruitfully. It is my profound conviction that fidelity to the Christian tradition, the preservation of continuity in the teaching and life of the Church is the proper means for the restoration of unity among Christ’s disciples.
Continue reading Catholics and Orthodox need to preserve the good of the dialogue for unity
The 77 million Anglican Church has a new Archbishop of Canterbury with the appointment of Bishop Justin Welby, 57, as the 105th Ordinary of Canterbury, and successor of Saint Augustine. He was joined by his wife Caroline and his family, including he two-month old grand-daughter.
September 24th is the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. She has had greater recognition in the past few years by Catholics in the USA due to an increased interest in ecumenism and the establishment of the personal ordinariats that offer Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. The prayer, though, is prayer not just for ecumenism but for Our Lady to be present to us in mercy. We pray…O blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, Mother
of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us, our
parish [our monastery], our country, our homes, and our families, and upon all
who greatly hope and trust in your prayers, (especially…). By you it was that
Jesus, our Savior and Hope, was given to the world; and He has given you to us
that we may hope still more. Plead for us your children, whom you did receive
and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our
separated brother and sisters, that with us in the one true fold they may be
united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of your Son. Pray for us all, dear
Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may be made worthy to see and
praise God, together with you in our heavenly home. Amen.
The President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation,
Father Carrón’s, said the following in tribute to Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini in a September 4th editorial in Corriere della Sera:
“And like Archbishop Montini, who initially confessed that he did not understand
Fr. Giussani’s method, though he did see its fruits, Cardinal Martini also
encouraged us to go forward. I am still moved by the words that he addressed to
Fr. Giussani in 1995, during a meeting of priests, when he thanked ‘the Lord,
who gave Msgr. Giussani this gift for continually re-expressing the core of
Christianity. ‘Every time that you talk, you always return to this core, which
is the Incarnation, and – in a thousand different ways – you propose it again.'”
The full text of the editorial: Julian Carron Letter on Carlo Martini’s death.pdf
This text is a brief, honest and yet key reflection not only on the life and influence of Cardinal Martini, perhaps an excellent synthesis of Christian life and how it is extroverted in a human being. There are some very tiresome reviews of who the Cardinal was, and what he meant to the Church too often in political language. To my mind those authors who evaluate a man such as Martini in this manner does not abide with the Gospel and faith.
The letter of Father Carrón acknowledges the fact that Communion and Liberation has significantly neglected the various opportunities of collaboration with Cardinal Martini that presented themselves over the years. This admission to members of CL should help all of us to reassess how we live and breathe in our given ecclesial context. This is a serious point that we can’t pass off to circumstance. That is to say, we who claim to be faithful members of CL need to work more diligently with the Diocesan Ordinary “in giving reasons for our hope” in concrete ways so that we are witnesses as the Servant of God Pope Paul VI said (cf. the letter).
You can count on a delegation from the Ancient See of Constantinople visiting Rome and the Holy Father on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Most years a small of group of bishops and archimandrites designated by the Ecumenical Patriarch descend on Rome to pray at the Tombs of Peter and Paul, to attend the Mass with the Pope and those receiving the pallium and to exchange ideas with the Pope. Lunch in the Apostolic Palace is regular. In an editorial by L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict talks more openly about the goal of these ecumenical exchanges. Eucharistic sharing is still impossible, but the hope and identifiable goal is that one day –and one hopes it happens in the next 50 years– that we can be in full visible communion. The editorial is below with my emphasis.
The Second Vatican Council, the 50th anniversary of whose opening is to be celebrated next 11 October, has marked “a new and important phase in relations” between Catholics and Orthodox. In recognizing this the Pope expressed the hope that “progress may also be made in the current phase“, while waiting “to arrive soon at the blessed day when we will be able to share in the Eucharistic banquet“.
The traditional meeting with the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, received in audience on Thursday morning, 28 June, on the eve of the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, was an opportunity for Benedict XVI to recall the importance of the Council in the development of ecumenical dialogue. It was also an opportunity to remember, in particular, the “passion for the unity of the Church” which inspired the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and the Pontiffs, John XIII and Paul VI, who “made themselves champions of courageous projects that paved the way to renewed relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Catholic Church”.
At Lambeth Palace, the home of the archbishops of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, 61, announced his retirement from ministry of Archbishop of Canterbury to take the position of Magdalene College, Cambridge. His new work begins January 2013; he steps down in December. Williams is the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a work he’s done since 2003.
Williams is known for his kindness, sharp intellect, dedication to striving for harmony among peoples, courage and friendship.
He married Jane in 1981, was ordained a bishop in 1992 and has served widely in ecclesial and academic circles.
The announcement is made here…
Dear brothers and sisters! It is with great joy that I extend my warm greetings to all of you who have gathered in this basilica for the liturgical Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, concluding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in this year when we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, that the Blessed John XXIII announced in this very basilica on January 25, 1959. The theme offered for our meditation in the Week of prayer which we conclude today, is: “All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord” (cf. 1 Cor 15.51-58).
This week, as you know, is a period of time for prayer (and fasting, I hope) for the intention of Christian Unity. The intention in my mind, and I might say, in the mind of the Pope, is a non-negotiable: we need not only to pray but to actively work for unity among Christians. This week, therefore, is an invitation to beg the Lord for the grace of unity for the Church.
The theme of the ’12 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 Jan) is taken from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:51-58).Make known in us, O Lord, the abundance of your mercy
and, in the power of your Spirit, remove the divisions between Christians, that
your Church may appear more clearly as a sign raised high among the nations and
the world, enlightened by your Spirit, may believe in the Christ whom you have
sent.