Sunday, November 14, 2004
Go Cardinal Go
Rome, Nov. 11 (CWNews.com) - In his opening address to a Vatican conference on ecumenical affairs, Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news) argued strongly against the idea that ecumenism is a progressive effort to free the Church from her "obsolete" heritage.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity delivered a lengthy speech to a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Unitatis Redintegratio (doc) , the Vatican II decree on ecumenism. He observed: "The Council was not so naïve as to ignore the danger" that ecumenism could be perceived as a license for changes from traditional Church teachings. This "erroneous" interpretation of ecumenical activity was rejected by Vatican II, he said.
In ecumenical work, "there is a real danger of relativism and indifferentism," the German cardinal said. That approach, he continued, "leads to a sort of markeplace ecumenism, which ends in superficiality." True ecumenism, Cardinal Kasper continued, is rigorous about dogmatic issues, and unafraid of exposing real differences in charitable terms.
The path of ecumenical activity, the cardinal said, "is not a new route." He insisted that the "full unity of Christ's disciples," for which Jesus prayed, is an essential and permanent goal of the Catholic Church.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity delivered a lengthy speech to a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Unitatis Redintegratio (doc) , the Vatican II decree on ecumenism. He observed: "The Council was not so naïve as to ignore the danger" that ecumenism could be perceived as a license for changes from traditional Church teachings. This "erroneous" interpretation of ecumenical activity was rejected by Vatican II, he said.
In ecumenical work, "there is a real danger of relativism and indifferentism," the German cardinal said. That approach, he continued, "leads to a sort of markeplace ecumenism, which ends in superficiality." True ecumenism, Cardinal Kasper continued, is rigorous about dogmatic issues, and unafraid of exposing real differences in charitable terms.
The path of ecumenical activity, the cardinal said, "is not a new route." He insisted that the "full unity of Christ's disciples," for which Jesus prayed, is an essential and permanent goal of the Catholic Church.
