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May they all be one (John 17:21)


 

Today’s visit to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU) highlighted for me again the reasons why as a Christian I cannot give up on the difficult yet necessary work of ecumenism. It is not easy to convince local bishops and Heads of Churches that ecumenism can never be an appendix to the Christian life, especially when they are dealing with limited resources. Ecumenism, on the contrary, is at the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. If the Church is meant to be a counter-cultural witness in service of the reign of God, then its ecumenical commitments serve to demonstrate to people of faith and of no faith at all that there can be a different way of “being with” each other. At the PCPCU, I was excited to learn that the Church engages not only in bilateral dialogues but in several multilateral fora, including the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions and the Global Christian Forum, all with the goal of building “a stronger, deeper, ontological communion with other Christian churches” (Bishop Farrell).

After the tour of the tomb of St. Peter, I walked through the crypt and then up into the basilica. As I visited altars and read about the great figures in the history of the church, I noted the names of those who had worked for Christian unity. I knew some of them such as Pope John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. However, I also learned about St. Josafat (1580-1623), bishop and martyr worked for the unity of the Church. At the altar of Saint Jerome, I saw a mosaic based on a painting done in 1614 of the “Communion of Saint Jerome” who was depicted in his old age and was accompanied by his disciples at the convent in Bethlehem to receive Communion from Saint Ephraim, who is revered in the Eastern Church. 

Finally, as I stood in front of the altar of St. Joseph, a couple approached me. “Sister,” they said, “could you tell us about this place.” They were not Christians but the woman described herself as “spiritual.” My instinctive reaction was to advise them to connect with a tour guide but then I realized that maybe the Holy Spirit had sent them to me for a reason. I decided to share with them what I knew regarding the basilica, beginning with the discovery of the tomb of St. Peter, about which I had learned so much during afternoon. It was an opportunity for encounter as I talked with them and listened to their questions.

Carla Thomas

 

Carla Thomas

Comments

  1. MelindaJuly 7, 2023 at 8:16 AM

    Thank you for writing about our trip to the Dicastery, it was a marvelous experience. Glad you were in the right place at the right moment to help share the message of the Gospel.

    ReplyDelete

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