"Francis Cardinal Arinze, a Nigerian, is president of the Pontifical
Council for interreligious Dialogue. He is a most engaging and
articulate man and is often mentioned as papabile, meaning a likely
candidate for Pope when - God willing, years from now -
there is an opening.
When in Rome recently I mentioned this to a cardinal, he responded, "Do
you think the Church is ready for an African Pope?"
Twenty years ago there were no doubt those who asked, "Do
you think the Church is ready for a Polish Pope?" The answer
is no, but we're trying hard to catch up with him.
I mention Arinze because he was lecturing at the Catholic University in
Washington a while back on inter-religious dialogue and he suggested
that theologians must resist two temptations in that enterprise. One
is the pride that refuses to recognize what is good and true
in other religions. The other is "reparation theology."
Reparation theologians are so defensive about the real or alleged sins of
Christian missionaries that they develop as "tendency to glamorize
[other] religions, to set their best ideals against the worst or weakest
type of behaviour among Christians, to denigrate Christianity, and to speak
only of its presumed defects." Reparation theology, it
is a valuable addition to our vocabulary." (First Things Magazine, by Richard J. Neuhaus,
October 1998, page 90)
"In June the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) formally approved a
"Joint Declaration" (JD) on the doctrine of justification
that had been worked out over many years of theological dialogue with
the Catholic Church. Shortly after, Rome made its official response
in a joint statement issued by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and the Pontifical Council for the
Promotion of Christian Unity (CCU). These developments received
considerable play in the general media with stories about
an "historic agreement" on the chief doctrine
that had separated Lutherans and Catholics for almost five hundred
years. The reali
ty is somewhat more complicated than that.
Rome did officially "receive" JD in the sense that it
affirmed that very significant progress had been made
in removing past misunderstanding, and in moving toward full
agreement on what it means to say that the sinner is justified by
faith. However, many of the Catholics and Lutherans involved
in producing JD are saying - mainly off the record, for
the present - that the Roman response is, in the most important
respects, a rejection of the declaration. JD proposed
that, with the new understandings achieved by
the dialogue, the mutual condemnations of the six
teenth century no longer apply, and the remaining differences
over the doctrine of justification are no church-dividing. The
Roman statement does not accept that proposal.
It would be an understatement to say that the theologians
in volved in the dialogue, both Lutheran and Catholic, were
taken aback by the Roman response. During the process, Rome
had indi cated problems with aspects of the declaration and, almost
up to the last minute, revisions were made to take those concerns
into
account. The participants in the dialogue thought they had been
assured that JD would be approved by Rome. Certainly that was the understanding
that informed the LWF's approval of the declaration. In
the immediate aftermath of the statement by CDF and CCU, the mood
among dialogue participants was bitter and despondent.
One Lutheran pioneer of the dialogue declared that the theologians,
both Lutheran and Catholic, had been "betrayed" by Rome.
For decades to come, he predicted, it would be impossible
to reestablish confidence in any theological dialogue
with the Catholic Church. At present.. they are in a state of
shock. Their sharp criticism of the Roman response has
several parts. In the first of its eight points, the Roman
response says that JD's treatment of the Lutheran teaching that
the Christian believer is "at the same time righteous and sinner"
(simul iustus et peccator) is unsatis factory.
On this, says Rome, it would be hard to say that the formulation of
JD is not touched" by the anathemas of the Council of Trent.
Here and elsewhere, the theologians complain, the Roman statement gives
a less than generous reading of JD, putting the most unfavorable construction
on the test... Catholics have different ways of giving theological expression
to the truth of justification - ways that are fully in accord with
the substantive agreement earlier... As of this writing, tempers are high.
The Lutherans who had been strongly critical of JD, and there are
many of them among German theologians in particular, are having
a hard time not saying "I told you so."..
In ways not presently discerned, it may contribute to putting the Lutheran-
Catholic and other dialogues on a more solid foundation.
As John Paul II's 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint (Thast They May Be
One) emphatically underscores, ecumenical engagement is not "optional"
for the Catholic Church; it is an imperative built
into the Church's very self-understanding as articulated in the
Second Vatican Council's constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium... These
are very hard days for ecumenism, and one has hope that
Rome will take the initiative in pointing a more promising way
forward to the realization of the OUr Lord's prayer, "Ut
unum sint."
"How Does This Effect
"ECT", Evangelical and
Catholics Together? The message of ECT was very warmly received at the special
Synod for American convened by the Pope in Rome last year, and in
the months ahead will be carried forward in ongoing discussions with
Evangelical leaders and Catholic bishops in Latin America.
In sum, ECT is a conspicuous exception to the current
ecumenical
doldrums." (First Things,
by Richard J. Neuhaus, October 1998, p. 80-82)
(Email August 25,98) A list of organizations who have endorsed
the Pope's Jubilee 2000 campaign in the United Kingdom: 1990 Trust
/ National Black Alliance, ActionAid, ACTSA, African Justice and
Peace Desk, ALISC, Alliance of Baptist Youth, ARIB, Association of
University Teachers (AUT), Baptist Missionary
Society, Baptist Union of GB, Brentwood Diocesan Comm. for J&P,
BSR, Church of England, CAFOD, CCBI, Christian Action on Third
World Debt, Christian Aid, Christian Socialist Movement, Christians
Aware, Christians for Racial Justice, Church in Wales,
Church Mission Society, Church of Scotland, Churches Commission for
Racial Justice, Churches Together in England, Columban Fa
thers, Comic Relief, CommonWeal, CROSSLINKS, Evangelical
Alliance, External Finance for Africa, Green Party, Health
Aid MOYO, Institute for frican Alternatives, IPMS,
Jubilee 2000 Scotland, Jubilee Campaign, Jubilee
Centre, MEDACT, Methodist Church, Methodist Relief and Development Fund,
Mid Africa Ministries, Modern Churchpeople's Union, Mothers Union,
Movement for
Christian Democracy, Movement of Christian Workers, Mozambique
Angola Committee, Nat Liaison Committee of Justice and
Peace Groups, National Catholic Secretariat, National Assembly Against
Racism, National Federation of Women's Institutes, New Economics Foundation,
NGO Networks Africa, IIED, Nicaragua Solidarity
Campaign, One World Action, One World Week, Oxfam,
People's Progressive Party of Guyana, Peru Support Group, Quaker Peace
Service, Reform Judaism, Save the Children Fund, SCIAF, Selly Oak Colleges,
Tear Fund, Third World First, Tools for Self Reliance, TROCAIRE, TUC,
Tzedek, UNICEF, Union of Lib and Progressive
Synagogues, UNISON, United Nations Association, United Reformed
Church, USPG , VSO , War Child, War on Want, Women's Internation al League
for Peace and Freedom, World Development Movement,
World Vision, YCARE International, YWCA, and more to come.
The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair will be among
10,000 people to see in the year 2000 at the opening of the
Millennium Dome. Organizers are keeping full details of
the celebration under wraps. But a spokesman said:
"There will be a symbolic event at midnight. "We're
expecting the Dome events to be shown on television world wide and
there will be links to celebrities in the UK and else where."
The tickets-only extravaganza at Greenwich, south London,
includes an extended version of a dancing show - written by former
Genesis singer Peter Gabriel. It will also be staged six times a day
during the Dome's first year. Source the Mirror. http://www. everything
2000.com.
The Churches in England are asking everyone in the land to per
form three simple acts in the dying moment of the
twentieth century. We will be offered to keep silence for a minute,
light a candle, and say a prayer.
It's called the "Millennium Moment" in which we have to let go
of 2000 years of history and welcome a whole new future. Anger
at tragedies of the past and fears for an uncertain tomorrow culminate.