Ut unum sint 101
101 I therefore exhort my Brothers in the Episcopate tobe especially mindful of this commitment. The two Codes of Canon Lawinclude among the responsibilities of the Bishop that of promoting the unity ofall Christians by supporting all activities or initiatives undertaken for thispurpose, in the awareness that the Church has this obligation from the will ofChrist himself.160 This is part of the episcopal mission and it is aduty which derives directly from fidelity to Christ, the Shepherd of theChurch. Indeed all the faithful are asked by the Spirit of God to do everythingpossible to strengthen the bonds of communion between all Christians and toincrease cooperation between Christ's followers: "Concern for restoring unitypertains to the whole Church, faithful and clergy alike. It extends to everyoneaccording to the potential of each".161
102 The power of God's Spirit gives growth and builds upthe Church down the centuries. As the Church turns her gaze to the newmillennium, she asks the Spirit for the grace to strengthen her own unity andto make it grow towards full communion with other Christians.
How is the Church to obtain this grace? In the first place, through prayer.Prayer should always concern itself with the longing for unity, and as such isone of the basic forms of our love for Christ and for the Father who is rich inmercy. In this journey which we are undertaking with other Christians towardsthe new millennium prayer must occupy the first place.
How is she to obtain this grace? Through giving thanks, so that we donot present ourselves empty-handed at the appointed time: "Likewise theSpirit helps us in our weakness ... " intercedes for us with sighs toodeep for words" (Rm 8,26), disposing us to ask God for what weneed.
How is she to obtain this grace? Through hope in the Spirit, who canbanish from us the painful memories of our separation. The Spirit is able togrant us clear-sightedness, strength and courage to take whatever steps arenecessary, that our commitment may be ever more authentic.
And should we ask if all this is possible, the answer will always be yes. Itis the same answer which Mary of Nazareth heard: with God nothing isimpossible.
I am reminded of the words of Saint Cyprian's commentary on the Lord'sPrayer, the prayer of every Christian: "God does not accept thesacrifice of a sower of disunion, but commands that he depart from the altar sothat he may first be reconciled with his brother. For God can be appeased onlyby prayers that make peace. To God, the better offering is peace, brotherlyconcord and a people made one in the unity of the Father, Son and HolySpirit".162
At the dawn of the new millennium, how can we not implore from the Lord,with renewed enthusiasm and a deeper awareness, the grace to prepare ourselves,together, to offer this sacrifice of unity?
103 I, John Paul, servus servorum Dei, venture tomake my own the words of the Apostle Paul, whose martyrdom, together with thatof the Apostle Peter, has bequeathed to this See of Rome the splendour of itswitness, and I say to you, the faithful of the Catholic Church, and to you, mybrothers and sisters of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities: "Mendyour ways, encourage one another, live in harmony, and the God of love andpeace will be with you ... The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love ofGod and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2Co 13,11 2Co 13,13).
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 25 May, the Solemnity of theAscension of the Lord, in the year 1995, the seventeenth of my Pontificate.
JOHN PAUL II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Cf. Address following the Way of the Cross on Good Friday (1 April 1994), 3: AAS 87 (1995), 88.
2 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration On Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1.
3 Cf. Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 16: AAS 87 (1995), 15.
4 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 4: AAS 85 (1993), 840.
5 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 1.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 4.
8 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 14.
9 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1 and 2.
10 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 14.
11 Ibid., 8.
12 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 3.
13 Ibid.
14 No. 15.
15 Ibid.
16 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 15.
17 Ibid., 3.
18 Ibid.
19 Cf. SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT, Homilies on the Gospel, 19, 1: PL, 1154, quoted in SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 2.
20 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
21 Ibid., 7.
22 Cf. Ibid.
23 Ibid., 6.
24 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 7.
25 Cf. Apostolic Letter Euntes in Mundum (25 January 1988): AAS 80 (1988), 935-956.
26 Cf. Encyclical Epistle Slavorum Apostoli (2 June 1985 ): AAS 77 (1985), 779-813.
27 Cf. Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (25 March 1993): AAS 85 (1993), 1039-1119.
28 Cf. in particular, the Lima Document: Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (January 1982); and the study of the JOINT WORKING GROUP BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, Confessing the "One" Faith (1991), Document No. 153 of the Commission on Faith and Order, Geneva, 1991.
29 Cf. Opening Address of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (11 October 1962): AAS 54 (1962), 793.
30 We are speaking of the SECRETARIAT FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, established by Pope John XXIII With the Motu Proprio Superno Dei Nutu (5 June 1960), 9: AAS 52 (1960), 436, and confirmed by successive documents: JOHN XXIII Motu Proprio Appropinquante Concilio (6 August 1962), c. III, a. 7, § 2, I: AAS 54 (1962), 614; cf. PAUL VI Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae (15 August 1967), 92-94: AAS 59 (1967), 918-919. This dicastery is now called the PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY: Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (28 June 1988), V, Arts. 135-138: AAS 80 (1988), 895-896.
31 Opening Address of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (11 October 1962): AAS 54 (1962), 792.
32 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 6.
33 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1.
34 Encyclical Epistle Slavorum Apostoli (2 June 1985),11: AAS 77 (1985), 792.
35 Ibid., 13: loc. cit., 794.
36 Ibid., 11: loc. cit., 792.
37 Address to the Aboriginal Peoples (29 November 1986), 12: AAS 79 (1987), 977.
38 Cf. SAINT VINCENT OF LERINS, Commonitorium primum, 23: PL 50, 667-668.
39 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 6.
40 Ibid., 5.
41 Ibid., 7.
42 Ibid., 8.
43 Ibid.
44 Cf. Ibid., 4.
45 Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 24: AAS 87 (1995), 19-20.
46 Address at Canterbury Cathedral (29 May 1982), 5: AAS 74 (1982), 922.
47 WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, Constitution and Rules, III, 1.
48 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 24.
49 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 7.
50 Maria Sagheddu was born at Dorgali (Sardinia) in 1914. At twenty-one years of age she entered the Trappistine Monastery in Grottaferrata. Through the apostolic labours of Abbé Paul Couturier, she came to understand the need for prayers and spiritual sacrifices for the unity of Christians. In 1936, at the time of an Octave for Unity, she chose to offer her life for the unity of the Church. Following a grave illness, Sister Maria Gabriella died on 23 April 1939.
51 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 24.
52 Cf. AAS 56 (1964), 609-659.
53 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 13.
54 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree On Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
55 Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 755; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canons 902-904.
56 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
57 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 3.
58 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
59 Cf. ibid.
60 Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam (6 August 1964), III: AAS 56 (1964), 642.
61 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 11,
62 Cf, ibid.
63 Ibid.; Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration in Defence of Catholic Doctrine on the Church Mysterium Ecclesiae (24 June 1973), 4: AAS G5 (1973), 402.
64 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration in Defence of Catholic Doctrine on the Church Mysterium Ecclesiae, 5: AAS 65 (1973), 403.
65 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
66 Cf. Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East: L'Osservatore Romano, 12 November 1994, 1.
67 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 12.
68 Ibid.
69 PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (25 March 1993 ), 5: AAS 85 (1993), 1040.
70 Ibid. 94: loc. cit., 1078,
71 Cf. COMMISSION ON FAITH AND ORDER OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (January 1982).
72 Cf. Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 32: AAS 80 (1988), 556.
73 Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 10: AAS 77 (1985), 1158; cf. Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (4 March 1979), 11: AAS 71 (1979), 277-278.
74 Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 10: AAS 77 (1985), 1158.
75 Cf. SECRETARIAT FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY and the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED BIBLE SOCIETIES, Guiding Principles for Interconfessional Cooperation in Translating the Bible (1968). This was revised and then published by the SECRETARIAT FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, "Guidelines for Interconfessional Cooperation in Translating the Bible": Information Service, 65 (1987), 140-145.
76 Cf. COMMISSION ON FAITH AND ORDER OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (January 1982).
77 For example, at the most recent assemblies of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver (1983) and in Canberra (1991), and of the Commission on Faith and Order in Santiago de Compostela (1993).
78 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 8 and 15; Code of Canon Law, Canon 844; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 671; PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (25 March 1993), 122-125, 129-131, 123 and 132: AAS 85 (1993), 1086-1087, 1088-1089, 1087 and 1089.
79 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree On Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
80 Ibid.
81 Cf. No. 15.
82 No. 15.
83 Ibid., 14.
84 Cf. Joint Declaration of Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras I (7 December 1965): Tomos Agapis, Vatican-Phanar (1958-1970), Rome-Istanbul, 1971, 280-281.
85 Cf. AAS 77 (1985), 779-813.
86 Cf. AAS 80 (1988), 933-956; cf. Message Magnum Baptismi Donum, (14 February 1988): AAS 80 (1988), 988-997,
87 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree On Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 14.
88 Ibid.
89 Apostolic Brief Anno Ineunte (25 July 1967): Tomos Agapis, Vatican-Phanar (1958-1970), Rome-Istanbul, 1971, 388-391.
90 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 14.
91 Ibid., 15.
92 No. 14: L'Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 3.
93 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 17.
94 No. 26.
95 Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 844, §§ 2 and 3; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 671, §§ 2 and 3.
96 PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (25 March 1993), 122-128: AAS 85 (1993), 1086-1088.
97 Declaration by His Holiness Pope John Paul II and the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I (7 December 1987): AAS 80 (1988), 253.
98 JOINT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, "The Sacrament of Order in the Sacramental Structure of the Church, with Particular Reference to the Importance of the Apostolic Succession for the Sanctification and the Unity of the People of God" (26 June 1988),1: Information Service, 68 (1988), 173.
99 Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Letter to the Bishops of Europe on the Relations between Catholics and Orthodox in the New Situation of Central and Eastern Europe (31 May 1991), 6: AAS 84 (1992), 168.
100 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 17.
101 Cf. Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen (2 May 1995 ), 24: L'Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 5.
102 Ibid., 18: loc. cit., 4.
103 Cf. Joint Declaration by His Holiness Pope Paul VI and His Holiness Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark of Alexandria (10 May 1973): AAS 65 (1973), 299-301.
104 Cf. Joint Declaration by His Holiness Pope Paul VI and His Beatitude Mar Ignatius Jacoub III, Patriarch of the Church of Antioch of the Syrians (27 October 1971): AAS 63 (1971), 814-815.
105 Cf. Address to the Delegates of the Coptic Orthodox Church (2 June 1979): AAS 71 (1979), 1000-1001.
106 Cf. Joint Declaration of Pope John Paul II and the SyrianOrthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas (23 June 1984): Insegnamenti VII/1 (1984), 1902-1906.
107 Address to His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia (11 June 1993): L'Osservatore Romano, 11-12 June 1993, 4.
108 Cf. Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East: L'Osservatore Romano, 12 November 1994, 1.
109 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 19.
110 Ibid.
111 Ibid., 19.
112 Cf. ibid.
113 Ibid.
114 Ibid., 20.
115 Ibid., 21.
116 Ibid.
117 Ibid.
118 Ibid., 22.
119 Ibid.
120 Ibid., 22; cf. 20.
121 Ibid., 22.
122 Ibid., 23.
123 Ibid.
124 Cf. Radio Message Urbi et Orbi (27 August 1978): AAS 70 (1978), 695-696.
125 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 23.
126 Ibid.
127 Cf. ibid., 12.
128 Ibid.
129 The steady work of the Commission on Faith and Order has led to a comparable vision adopted by the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches in the Canberra Declaration (7-20 February 1991); cf. Signs of the Spirit, Official Report, Seventh Assembly, WCC, Geneva, 1991, pp. 235-258. This vision was reaffirmed by the World Conference of Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela (3-14 August 1993); cf. Information Service, 85 (1994), 18-37.
130 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree On Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 14.
131 Cf. ibid., 4 and 11.
132 Cf. Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 6: AAS 77 (1985), 1153.
133 Cf. ibid.
134 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 12.
135 Cf. AAS 54 (1962), 792.
136 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 6,
137 Cf. ibid., 4; PAUL VI, Homily for the Canonization of the Ugandan Martyrs (18 October 1964): AAS 56 (1964), 906.
138 Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 37: AAS 87 (1995), 29-30.
139 Cf. PAUL VI, Address at the Shrine in Namugongo, Uganda (2 August 1969): AAS 61 (1969), 590-591.
140 Cf. Missale Romanum, Praefatio de Sanctis I: Sanctorum "coronando merita tua dona coronans",
141 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
142 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 8.
143 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 3.
144 After the Lima Document of the Commission on Faith and Order, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (January 1982), and in the spirit of the Declaration of the Seventh General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, The Unity of the Church as "koinonia": Gift and Task (Canberra, 7-20 February 1991): cf. Istina 36 (1991), 389-391.
145 Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 4: AAS 77 (1985), 1151-1152.
146 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 23.
147 Cf. Discourse at the Headquarters of the World Council of Churches, Geneva (12 June 1984), 2: Insegnamenti VII/1 (1984), 1686.
148 WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE COMMISSION ON FAITH AND ORDER, Report of the Second Section, Santiago de Compostela (1993): Confessing the One Faith to God's Glory, 31, 2, Faith and Order Paper No. 166, World Council of Churches, Geneva, 1994, 243.
149 To cite only a few examples: ANGLICAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION, Final Report, ARCIC-I (September 1981); INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Report (1981); ROMAN CATHOLIC/LUTHERAN JOINT COMMISSION, The Ministry in the Church (13 March 1981). The problem takes clear shape in the research conducted by the JOINT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.
150 Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 3: AAS 77 (1985), 1150.
151 Sermon XLVI, 30: CCL 41, 557.
152 Cf. FIRST VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ Pastor Aeternus: DS 3074.
153 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 27.
154 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree On Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 14.
155 Homily in the Vatican Basilica in the presence of Dimitrios I, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch (6 December 1987), 3; AAS 80 (1988), 714.
156 Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 77: AAS 68 (1976), fig; cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 1; PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (25 March 1993 ), 205-209: AAS 85 (1993), 1112-1114.
157 Address to the Cardinals and the Roman Curia (28 June 1985), 4: AAS 77 (1985), 1151.
158 Letter of 13 January 1970: Tomos Agapis, Vatican-Phanar (1958-1970), Rome-Istanbul, 1971, pp. 610-611.
159 Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 20: AAS 87 (1995), 17.
160 Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 755; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 902.
161 SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 5.
162 On the Lord's Prayer, 23: CSEL 3, 284-285.
Ut unum sint 101