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This brief statement was published together with two articles, Georges Tavard’s “The 1993 Directory for Ecumenism” and Marsha L. Dutton’s “One Faith, One Hope, One Baptism: Comments on the 1993 Roman Catholic Directory for Ecumenism”.
The two papers below emerge from the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the United States in its discussion and evaluation of the 1993 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. At its January 1995 meeting, ARC-USA identified certain areas of the directory as having particular importance: · the concern with Christian formation, the call to Christian unity inhering in baptism in Christ, and the encouragement of ecumenical cooperation in catechesis and social issues. ARC-USA is encouraged by the directory’s affirmation of the Roman Catholic Church’s continuing firm commitment to ecumenical dialogue and cooperation in the search for reconciliation of Christians and recovery of organic unity, especially at a time when events in both churches have created anxiety about the continuation of dialogue between Roman Catholics and Anglicans.
ARC-USA finds that the directory offers particular openings for conversation and mutual understanding between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion in areas ranging from the theological and sacramental to the practical and social:
The directory’s affirmation of the unity in diversity to be found within the Roman Catholic Church and its statement that Christian unity is fundamentally Trinitarian offers an ecclesiological understanding of Christian reconciliation grounded in Trinitarian faith. The diversity of peoples, cultures, and languages found in the Roman Catholic Church around the world also characterizes the many churches of the Anglican Communion as it stretches from and connects the faithful of England, Nigeria, South Africa, India, New Zealand, and the United States.
The directory notes that all those baptized in Christ are called by their baptism to work for Christian unity, exhorts all Christians to continue in ecumenical dialogue and cooperation, and suggests the value of searching for ways to cooperate within the context of celebrations of baptism. The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer similarly calls the baptized to work for Christian unity when the baptismal covenant asks their vow to “seek and serve Christ in all persons.” Moreover, the various renewal movements within the Episcopal Church focus especially on the gifts of the Spirit proceeding from Christian baptism.
The directory’s emphasis on the process and institutional sources of ecumenical formation invites ecumenical partners to find ways of sharing in this endeavor. The parallel networks of diocesan ecumenical officers of both churches (EDEO and NADEO) have long worked closely together in programs of ecumenical study and formation.
The directory’s encouragement of shared Bible study, catechesis, and missionary effort offers openings for shared doctrinal and ecclesiological conversations among Roman Catholics and their ecumenical partners grounded in shared study, teaching and evangelism. In the Episcopal Church the program in Education for Ministry originating from The University of the South focuses on shared Bible study, church history, and theology to encourage dioceses and parishes in furthering the work of ecumenism; the new emphasis on the catechumenal process that is moving throughout the Anglican Communion has its roots in the catechumenal process of the Roman Catholic Church.
The directory’s expression of the necessity of mutual endeavor among Christians in the areas of social need, e.g., “famine and national disasters, illiteracy and poverty, lack of housing and the unequal distribution of wealth” (n.211), displays an area of cooperation between Roman Catholic and Anglican churches that is both an opportunity and an obligation. Such cooperation is widespread at the grassroots level as local parishes in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion work together in creating and staffing centers for lay ministry, soup kitchens, and chapters of Habitat for Humanity.
ARC-USA also recognizes limitations in the directory’s support for ecumenism, seen specifically in the continuing official restrictions on shared eucharistic communion between Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholic Christians and the emphasis on cautious gradualness rather than the sin of Christian division. These issues are of particular concern in the on-going dialogue between Roman Catholics and Anglicans.
The members of ARC-USA welcome this renewed statement of the Roman Catholic Church’s commitment to ecumenism and, as representatives of their churches, affirm the continuation of their mutual engagement in dialogue, cooperative study and prayer, and the search for Christian unity. ARC-USA also challenges local Anglican-Roman Catholic groups across the United States to join in a mutual discussion of what more they can be doing ecumenically on the basis of this document.
