Spiritual Growth in the Documents on Ecumenism from Vatican II

I am putting Orientalium Ecclesiarum, Unitatis Redintegratio and Nostra Aetate together to talk about ecumenism. Orientalium Ecclesiarum discusses the Eastern Churches who are in a state of schism with the Roman Catholic Church, but who have valid apostolic succession and valid sacraments. Unitatis Redintegratio is the main document on ecumenism, discussing our relationship with non-Catholic ecclesial communities. Nostra Aetate discusses our relationship as Catholics to non-Christian religions.

What does any of this have to do with spiritual growth? These documents really need to be studied, taught well and discussed much more than they are. There are so many false assumptions about what the Council taught on ecumenism. But for the purpose of personal spiritual growth, here are a few main points.

Ecumenism is really a balance between two extremes: triumphalism and modernism. Finding this balance is an important part of spiritual growth. Triumphalism is on one extreme. We limit God’s mercy by assuming that anyone who does not belong to the Catholic Church as a full member cannot be saved. This belief flies in the face of the traditional teachings of invincible ignorance (ignorance that is not the fault of the ignorant) and baptism by desire. At the other extreme is an attitude born of philosophical modernism that assumes that all claims to truth are equally valid – that all beliefs and religions and denominations are fundamentally the same. This belief is actually insulting to everyone involved. It assumes that what they believe doesn’t really matter, except for a lowest common denominator. It is also insulting to Divine Revelation because it assumes that we cannot really know God so one guess is as good as another.

The balance proposed by the Council reads something like this.

1. The Catholic faith is the fulness of the truth and the center of the Covenant established by Christ.
2. All Christian denominations and non-Christian religions have some element of truth in them because God’s revealed truth is accessible to everyone. The truth that exists in these beliefs should be respected, and should be used as a stepping stone to dialog.
3. People outside of the Catholic Church may be saved, but they are not saved because of their belief system. They are saved because of the elements of their faith that are part of the fullness of truth found in the Catholic Church.
4. Being Catholic does not automatically mean that we are being saved. We may have the fullness of truth, but we cannot be saved if we fail to conform our life around that truth.
5. Catholics have the responsibility to bring everyone into full communion with Christ by evangelizing. To fail in this mission is to leave the salvation of others to chance, and to deprive them of all that Christ offers through His Church.

These documents challenge us to

1. Use the tools we are given as Catholics. To whom much is given much will be expected.
2. Be willing to learn from people of other faiths without sacrificing the truth we know comes from God through the Church.
3. Enter into respectful dialog with people of other faiths in the hope of drawing everyone involved closer to the truth.
4. Examine our lives for the damaging and dangerous attitudes of modernism and triumphalism and fight against both in our lives.

The task of ecumenism is to enter into dialog with people of other faiths with the goal of leading them to the fulness of the truth. But we need to do this without a sense of triumphalism. Can we learn from non-Catholics about how to be a better disciple of Christ? Absolutely! While they may not have the full tool chest, many non-Catholics use the tools they have much more completely and effectively than Catholics do. It doesn’t do us any good to have a full tool chest if we don’t use the tools, does it? That’s why ecumenism is a dialogue.

But don’t fall into the trap of saying things like, “We have so much in common. The differences just don’t matter.” The difference do matter. Because what matters is the truth about who God is and what our relationship is supposed to be with our Lord. Spiritual growth includes growing in the humility to learn from others, and the charity and courage needed to lead others more fully into the truth.