Full unity and
evangelization
98.
The ecumenical movement in our century, more than the ecumenical undertakings
of past centuries, the importance of which must not however be underestimated,
has been characterized by a missionary outlook. In the verse of John's Gospel
which is ecumenism's inspiration and guiding motif—"that they may all be
one ... so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21)—the phrase that the world
may believe has been so strongly emphasized that at times we run the risk
of forgetting that, in the mind of the Evangelist, unity is above all for the
glory of the Father. At the same time it is obvious that the lack of unity
among Christians contradicts the Truth which Christians have the mission to
spread and, consequently, it gravely damages their witness. This was clearly
understood and expressed by my Predecessor Pope Paul VI, in his Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi:
"As evangelizers, we must offer Christ's faithful not the image of people
divided and separated by unedifying quarrels, but the image of people who are
mature in faith and capable of finding a meeting-point beyond the real
tensions, thanks to a shared, sincere and disinterested search for truth. Yes,
the destiny of evangelization is certainly bound up with the witness of unity
given by the Church ... At this point we wish to emphasize the sign of unity
among all Christians as the way and instrument of evangelization. The division
among Christians is a serious reality which impedes the very work of
Christ".156
How indeed can we proclaim
the Gospel of reconciliation without at the same time being committed to
working for reconciliation between Christians? However true it is that the
Church, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit and with the promise of
indefectibility, has preached and still preaches the Gospel to all nations, it
is also true that she must face the difficulties which derive from the lack of
unity. When non-believers meet missionaries who do not agree among themselves,
even though they all appeal to Christ, will they be in a position to receive
the true message? Will they not think that the Gospel is a cause of division,
despite the fact that it is presented as the fundamental law of love?
99.
When I say that for me, as Bishop of Rome, the ecumenical task is "one of
the pastoral priorities" of my Pontificate,157 I think of the
grave obstacle which the lack of unity represents for the proclamation of the
Gospel. A Christian Community which believes in Christ and desires, with Gospel
fervour, the salvation of mankind can hardly be closed to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit, who leads all Christians towards full and visible unity. Here an
imperative of charity is in question, an imperative which admits of no
exception. Ecumenism is not only an internal question of the Christian
Communities. It is a matter of the love which God has in Jesus Christ for all
humanity; to stand in the way of this love is an offence against him and
against his plan to gather all people in Christ. As Pope Paul VI wrote to the
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I: "May the
Holy Spirit guide us along the way of reconciliation, so that the unity of our
Churches may become an ever more radiant sign of hope and consolation for all
mankind".158
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