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It's a safe bet that the cause of ecumenism will not be achieved
during the years when Pope Benedict leads the Roman Catholic
Church - unless it is on terms dictated by the Vatican.
The supporters of ecumenism on the Protestant side have been
dismayed in recent times, especially since the release of
the Dominus Jesus declaration four years ago.
In that declaration, the Vatican, under the late Pope John
Paul, declared that Protestant Churches were "not churches
in the proper sense."
Recently, the Lutheran Bishop of Linkoping, in Sweden, told
an invited audience in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, that
he felt sadness that ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic
church in Sweden had moved from 'spring' to 'autumn' in his
country.
The bishop said that the Lutheran church in Sweden had been
"the most catholic of the Lutheran churches", and
he said there was a "spring atmosphere with the Roman
Catholic Church in the years following Vatican II."
However, he felt that in the last five to six years it was
not spring time any more.
Well, that must be the feelings of pro-ecumenical people
in most of the Reformed churches in Europe, and indeed in
North America and throughout Christendom.
For Protestants opposed to ecumenism, and who fervently support
the principles of the Reformation and the brave Reformers,
the 'one true church' attitude of the Roman Catholic church
comes as no surprise whatsoever.
Protestants know only too well that their churches are regarded
as inferior by a Church which has always been intolerant towards
those it perceives as heretical.
Centuries ago the Roman Catholic Church burned Protestants
and others who sought to worship God in their own way. Today
it prefers to denigrate them by insulting statements implying
inferiority.
That's something which no true Protestant will lose a minute's
sleep over. But it is devastating and morale sapping to those
within the Anglican and other Protestant churches who have
been saying for decades that Rome has changed.
Let's reflect on what the Church of Rome did say in 2001
in that now infamous Dominus Jesus document, which was signed
by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly
the Inquisition.
The document declared that redemption and salvation of sinners
was possible only through the Roman Catholic Church.
"There exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists
in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter
and by the Bishops in communion with him," it said.
The paper said bluntly that "according to the will of
God, the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, objectively has the doctrine
of primacy over the entire church.
The document had the hand of the then Prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Inquisition, Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict.
He said the principle of tolerance and respect for freedom
promoted by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council was
being "manipulated" and "wrongfully surpassed."
The 36-page declaration accused some Roman Catholic theologians
of manipulating fundamental truths of the church to justify
religious pluralism as a principle.
The idea that "one religion is as good as another"
endangers the church's missionary message, the declaration
said.
Cardinal Ratzinger also sent a separate letter at the time
to the heads of Roman Catholic bishops conferences throughout
the world warning that bishops should not use the term "sister
Churches" when speaking of the Anglican Communion "and
non-Catholic ecclesial communities."
An official 'note' sent by him warned that describing Protestant
churches as "sister Churches" can cause "ambiguities."
The cardinal's 'note' approved by Pope John Paul II, was
"to be held as authoritative and binding" according
to Cardinal Ratzinger's letter to the bishops conferences.
The four-page document giving a detailed history of the term
'sister churches' included a point made by Cardinal Ratzinger
claiming Rome's superiority to other Churches, stating, "in
this connection, it needs to be noted that no Roman Pontiff
ever recognised the equalisation of sees or accepted that
only a primacy of honour to be accorded to the See of Rome
- meaning that Rome had superior authority.
The Cardinal's note ended with a warning, "the expression
'sister Churches' in the proper sense, as attested by the
common tradition of East and West, may only be used for those
ecclesial communities that have preserved a valid episcopate
and Eucharist."
The leader of Germany's 28 million Lutherans, Manfred Kock,
described the declaration as a "setback for ecumenical
relations."
There is an old saying, "a leopard never changes its
spots", and it is highly unlikely that the new Pope Benedict
will change his attitude, or that of the Roman Catholic Church
at large, towards what it believes to be 'inferior' Protestant
churches.
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