The challenge of secularism against a divided Christianity is one of the great problems of the 21st century. Ecumenism has been the response of forward-thinking individuals, and is the leading edge of the Second Vatican Council.
In that light, I am certainly glad to see that Pope Benedict isn’t just speaking on its behalf, but rather is becoming very proactive in promoting ecumenical dialouge within the Church:
The pope, who is making the first foreign visit of his pontificate, reiterated what he called his ‘firm commitment’ to making full Christian unity a priority of his papacy.
He told the Church leaders, who included Germany’s Protestant Churches as well as Orthodox Christians, that as a German he was aware of the ‘painful situation which the rupture of unity’ had caused for families of mixed denominations.
He said that while the Churches had made a ‘common stand’ on such matters as protection of the right to life and the promotion of justice and peace, ‘I am well aware that many Christians in this country, and not only in this country, expect further concrete steps to bring us closer together.
‘I myself have the same expectation. It is the Lord’s command, but also the imperative of the present hour,’ he said.
Imperative of the present hour is right. Given the creeping secularism in the West, Christianity’s strength depends on ecumenism. What’s more, if the alternative to ecumenism – which I would imagine to be sectarianism – is the solution, what does that say for relations between the West (Christian or secular) and Islam?
There has always been the criticism that ecumenism often degenerates into a lowest-common denominator. A false ecumenism if you will. But if there’s any question that the author of Dominus Iesus is leading Christianity to that end, one is either ignorant of Pope Benedict the man, or simply has another agenda to push.
The more Pope Benedict does, the more I look forward to the future of Christendom and smile.