Ecumenism is an Evil Catholic Plot  
  
The following is a response to a courteous post from Tom about ecumenical dialogue.  I am afraid though, that the constant debate with anti-Catholics drove him to look elsewhere for the sharing of views.  The bigots see ecumenism as subterfuge for Catholic infiltration and domination.  People who are afraid are quick to distrust and always ready to hate. 

Andrew responds:  
(Earlier post not saved.) 

Dear Tom, 

The roadblocks to full reintegration of the Christian community are many all too real.  Today, this problem also includes the divergence of belief and behavior among the members within the various denominations themselves, including Catholicism.   

My library is temporarily in great disarray, making it difficult to cite examples, but I would suggest that this has already been happening.  The joint Lutheran-Catholic consensus agreement on justification will be a highlight of inter-confessional dialogue.  It is still waiting final approbation from the Holy See.  Earlier drafts seemed to indicate that much of what was condemned were Catholic exaggerations of the Lutheran stance or that which was promoted by Protestants lacking theologically astuteness or clarity.  Defining terms and finding agreement based upon the Scriptural and traditional testimony has been a long and grueling enterprise.   

We find some elements of this hard work in the new universal catechism of the Catholic Church: 

CCC #1991 - Justification is at the same time THE ACCEPTANCE OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS through faith in Jesus Christ.  Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love.  With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us. 

CCC #1992 - Justification has been MERITED FOR US BY THE PASSION OF CHRIST who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men.  Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith.  It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.  Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. 

CCC #1993 - Justification establishes COOPERATION BETWEEN GOD'S GRACE AND MAN'S FREEDOM.  On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent. 

No anathemas accompany the text.  Outside the polemics of the reformation and counter-reformation, we see the fruit of mutual understanding here.  Admittedly, there has been a movement or at least a clarification in the Lutheran view from a simple juridical imputation of righteousness to the addition of an accompanying ontological transformation.  We are deemed as righteous because we are literally changed into a new creation.  Yes, we are clothed in Christ, but instead of a mask it is a window to our new identity as sons and daughters of the Father.  The Catholic and Lutheran views need not be seen as incompatible.  A number of Lutherans, seeing this as the principal cause for the "reform movement" have suggested that other problems should be resolved within a reintegrated Church.  Others, including many traditional Catholics, suggest it would be too hasty a move.  Several individuals, nonetheless, have formally been received into the Catholic Church.  They feel that most of that for which Martin Luther fought has been resolved or accepted within Catholicism.  The trouble is that there is a large element of Lutheranism that Luther himself would not recognize today.  This speaks to the formal divisions between the various Lutheran synods.  I am afraid I am not well versed in this regard. 

What is the major attraction to Catholicism?  To be honest, while the Church is growing in some places, there are other spots in the world where the fires of faith seem to burn dimly.  Thinking people are drawn to the great intellectual inheritance of the Church.  Here we do quite well with converts.   While we do not actively proselytize, it is also here that we attract impressive Protestants.  Two Methodist professors I knew at Wesley Seminary (in Washington, D.C.) are now both Catholics and teaching at Church institutions.  An Episcopal priest I know just resigned his pastorship and is seeking entry into the Catholic Church.  He is a married man with a small family.  He hopes that he will be granted ordination.  In any case, he tells me that this is something he feels he "must" do.  The Catholic arguments are very credible and history supports it.  Fr. Neuhaus was a Lutheran minister who is now a Catholic priest and editor of FIRST THINGS.  Malcolm Muggeridge became a Catholic at the end of his life because of the heroic and sincere Catholicism of Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.  The apologist Scott Hahn came in from the Presbyterian Church (by way of Scripture study).  Walter Hooper, the last personal secretary to C. S. Lewis, became a Catholic priest.  He insists that had Lewis lived long enough, he would have done the same.  Lewis is important here.  The same intellectual route that brought him back to Christianity is the road for many such people today toward Catholicism.  He wrote that most people do not take this route.  Again, I would have to agree regarding the road to Rome.  The intellectual elite (like Cardinal Newman) is small in number by anyone's standard.   

Missionaries are averaging 7,000 converts a day in Africa to the Catholic faith.  Our greatest competitor there is Islam.  The Church in her charity operations is shown to be a family that cares.  The hunger to join the worldwide family is also satisfied with entry.  They want something greater than tribal divisions.  At home, the loving witness can not be underestimated as well.  The sacraments provide a sense of belonging to the family of faith and to God.  We are not abandoned.  The former abortionist, Dr. Nathanson, remarked that he became a Catholic because he wanted his sins forgiven-- and he wanted to know that he was forgiven.   

What is the greatest reason?  It is still probably the nurturing of mothers and fathers, baptizing and raising their children in the faith.   

There are ecumenical celebrations being planned for Jubilee 2000.  But, in my own mind have I thought of it that way?  Honestly, I think not.  We are planning a Eucharistic Congress in Washington for the event that will probably be mostly Catholic.  Certainly the "mea culpas" of the Pope shows that he wants to start the next millenium off with a clean slate for the Church.   

What about "EX CORDE ECCLESIAE" I have given it little study.  However, I would support anything that would preserve the Catholic identity of our institutions.  I would suspect that many "traditional" Protestant groups might support the move today.  Why?  It is because campuses are becoming increasingly hostile to religion and particularly to Christianity.  The true battles at home are not between Catholics and Protestants and Jews; rather, it is between the Judeo-Christian inheritance (values) and a secular, relativistic, and narcissistic worldview.  When religion is promoted, the Eastern is given preference over the West, and a contradictory New Age (hodge-podge) philosophy is embraced.   

A case in point is that Cardinal Hickey had to intervene with Georgetown University because they resisted crosses and crucifixes in the classrooms.  The debates regard both ideas and fundamental symbols of Christian faith.   

Sorry, Tom, for the rushed reply.  I hope it is a fair beginning in this dialogue.   

Peace, 

Andrew