The Year of the
Eucharist |
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EUCHARIST AND ECUMENISM “Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time. Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion ‘…That they may all be one…’ “The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church: paragraph 820) Unity and the Church The Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. The Church is one because there is one Lord and one faith. It is holy because Jesus Christ has instituted it. It is catholic because of its mission to bring the Good News to the whole world. And, it is apostolic because it continues the mission of Christ and his apostles through the ages. The Church, therefore, has a divine commitment to be united and to teach and preach unity among all Christians and all peoples. The eternal unity (communion) of the Church is found only in God, through Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. And, the most visible sign of this unity comes in the Eucharist. The Church, therefore, shares an intimate and inseparable existence with the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a sign of the unity (communion) of the Church. One can therefore say that the Church cannot exist without the Eucharist, nor can the Eucharist exist without the Church. “The Eucharist, as the supreme sacramental manifestation of communion in the Church, demands to be celebrated in a context where the outward bonds of communion are also intact.” (On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church - pgs.40-41) The Church has lived a Eucharistic presence despite the sins of the believers and its ongoing struggles in the face of persecution, schism, heresy, idolatry, etc. The unity of the Church has been expressed in and through its hierarchical structure and its apostolic succession. Unity is thus understood and lived as it has been passed on within the tradition of the Church. The Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation) and Ordination are the fundamental sacraments for the determination of Church unity. However, unity in the Church cannot exclude apostolic succession since, without the priesthood, there can be no Eucharist. Those Christians who do not therefore recognise the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) as the visible head of the Church are not in communion with the Church. The Church, which is innately committed to responding to the call for unity, has responded to this challenge with ecumenism. Unity and ecumenism For the Church, the Eucharist is the source of unity and ecumenism is a tool to procure unity among all Christians. The Church always had an ecumenical presence and influence. There have been twenty-one Ecumenical Councils to date. The first Ecumenical Council was held in 325 in Nicaea and the twenty-first was the Vatican II Council held in 1962 in Rome. All these councils were convened to address specific theological, apostolic, and pastoral issues that threatened the unity of the Church. The Churches of the East and the West, both apostolic Churches had once recognized the Pope to be the visible lead of the Church. But there was a schism in the Church in the 11th century centred on theological and political disputes. This soured the relationship between the Churches of the East and West for centuries, up until Vatican Council II when relations improved. In 1869, at the First Vatican Council, it was decreed that the Pope was infallible when speaking ex-cathedra, when -- as shepherd and teacher of all Christians -- he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held definitively by the whole Church. Then there was the Reformation in 1545, which divided the Church into Catholics and Reformers (Protestants). In response to this separation, a Council was convened in Trent. Since the Reformation, the reformed Churches have been further divided. Today there are hundreds of reformed Churches and this was the catalyst for the work towards unity among reformers. The World Council of Churches was instituted in 1948 in Amsterdam as the Protestants' ecumenical response to preserve unity. The Catholic Church has since become an honorary member of this council, in an advisory capacity. The Catholic Church eventually established a week of prayer for unity among all Christians, including Protestants. This week of prayer for Christian unity begins from the Feast of the Conversion of Paul, which is celebrated on January 25. Christians throughout the world are encouraged to pray for Christian unity in their respective churches -- Catholic and Protestant. Here in our Archdiocese, the week of prayer for Christian unity was shifted to the week between the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost. Other ecumenical efforts by both the local and Caribbean Catholic Church towards Christian unity include the institution of the Caribbean Conference of Churches, the Christian Council of Churches in our Republic, and also the joint Anglican-Catholic Church of the Annunciation in Santa Rosa Heights, Arima. Unity and sacraments If Eucharist and Ecumenism call one to unity, why does the Catholic Church not allow other Christians to fully participate in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, even if individuals may be desirous of receiving the Eucharist? On the sacramental level of ecumenism, the Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago accepts the baptism of Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians. If Christians from any of these Churches want to accept the life and teachings of the Catholic Church they would not be baptised, rather they would be admitted to the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) sessions in the respective parishes. And, during the vigil Mass on Gloria Saturday, they can be accepted into the Church before completing the sacraments of initiation (Confirmation and Holy Eucharist). If, however, the Anglican, Methodist or Presbyterian is already confirmed in his/her respective churches, he/she must be reconfirmed before reception of the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, unity within the Catholic Church must find its alpha and omega in the Eucharist. However, where unity cannot be shared in the celebration of the Eucharist it is essential that unity between all Christians, Catholics and Protestants, finds expression in Ecumenical relations, for “the celebration of the Eucharist…cannot be the starting-point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a communion which it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection”. (On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church pg 38).
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