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Notes
from the Vatican
July
21/22, 2007
Colossians
1:24-28
Fr.
George Smiga
Usually
when a statement comes out from the Vatican , it makes the
papers, people read and think about it, and then move on.
This does not seem to be the case with the most recent statement
from the Vatican , issued on July 10th of this year, concerning
the church and its relationship with to other Christian denominations.
You probably read in the paper or on the internet the headlines
saying that the Catholic Church claimed to be the only true
church and considered other Christian denominations to be
defective. For the last ten days I have been dealing with
questions from parishioners, from friends, from fellow priests,
and from ministers of other Christian denominations concerning
this document. So I think that it might be useful for us today
to reflect upon what this document means.
Today's
second reading provides a useful context for that discussion
because the author to the Colossians says that we are called
not only to follow Christ but to stand before Christ with
maturity. Maturity is what we need whenever we address an
official statement of our Church, for we must approach it
with respect, intelligence, and the sum total of our lived
experience.
So
let us do that this morning, and let us proceed in three steps:
First, what does the document say. Second, what does it not
say. And third, how might this discussion of the document
affect our lives.
What
does the document say? It says that fullness of the church
of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. Now this is not
a new statement. It is direct quotation from the Second Vatican
Council. The document calls us to appreciate some of the unique
things which we have in the Catholic tradition: a world-wide
church structure united with the Pope which mirrors the world-wide
call to the gospel, a succession of leadership that can be
traced back to the apostles, and the centrality of the Eucharist
as the source and summit of our life of faith. I value these
gifts, and I think you do as well. The document says that
having these qualities gives to the Catholic tradition a fullness
which other Christian denominations do not possess. Now we
should remember that this document is written from the Catholic
perspective. Other Christian denominations do not see themselves
defective because they do not have the qualities that I just
mentioned. That is fair. Their understanding of their own
relationship to Christ differs from ours. But from a Catholic
perspective possessing these qualities is essential to us
as Catholics. We treasure them. That is the crux of what the
document says.
What
does the document not say? It does not say that other Christian
denominations are not Christian or that somehow they are separated
from Christ. It does not say that Catholics are better than
non-Catholics. We know this is not true from our own experience.
I think most of us could identify Christians of other denominations
who live the Christian life more faithfully than we do. It
does not say that the Catholic Church is perfect. In that
long history, which we so treasure, we can identify a number
of sinful disasters—the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition
to mention only two. It does not say that the Catholic Church
has nothing to learn from other Christian denominations. We
have learned and continue to learn from one another. In the
fifty years since the Second Vatican Council the growing appreciation
of Scripture and a more active congregational singing in the
Catholic Church are only two of the gifts which we have learned
from other Christian traditions. There are some aspects of
Church life which they have preserved more faithfully than
we have. The document certainly does not say that people should
be judged because they are not Catholic. The clear teaching
of the Catholic Church is that each person is free to choose
their own path to God according to their own conscience. Nor
does it say that dialogue between Christians is unnecessary
or un-important. We continue to believe as Catholics that
the separation that exists between the Christian faiths is
contrary to the will of Christ. Christ calls us to be one.
All
of these things I have enumerated are not said in the document.
It is important that we realized this, lest we imagine that
the document is implying them. The document is rather making
a narrow theological point that in our understanding as Catholics
we possess certain qualities which give us a fuller claim
to be the church of Christ . The fact that other Christians
disagree with us on that stance should not be dismissed or
ignored. Rather it points to the necessity of further dialogue
between us.
So
how should this document and what it says affect our lives?
It challenges us to realize that not all Christians are the
same. Sometimes you hear people say, “All faiths are the really
the same anyway.” All faiths are not the same. We are certainly
more similar to one another than dissimilar, but we are not
all the same. Each tradition has its own history, its own
practices, its own emphasis, its own theology. We need to
know our own tradition just as other Christians need to know
theirs. Once we know what we believe, it is important that
we reach out to others in dialogue, and to reach out with
humility and respect.
I
am keenly aware that many people here have members of their
family who are of a different Christian tradition. I am aware
that people of a different Christian tradition might be visiting
with us this morning or might come here regularly to participate
in our worship. I want everyone to know that other Christians
are welcome here at St. Noel. We are always eager to share
with other Christians our understanding of Christ. And we
are open to listen as they share with us their understanding
of Christ. We must believe that across our divisions, we are
called to listen to one another with humility and respect,
so that step by step, we might move towards the unity to which
Christ calls us. Christ loves us all. Christ works through
us all. Therefore, I think it is important that we understand
this recent statement from the Vatican as a call to appreciate
our own tradition and then to reach out to others in an honest
dialogue of humility and respect. It is only in this way that
we can become the mature Christians which Christ calls us
to be.
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