Tecle Vetrali OFM: Franciscans and ecumenism

1. Ecumenism

2. Conversion and reconciliation: fulcrum of the experience of St Francis and the way to unity

In the field of ecumenism, Franciscanism has something to say, but what it primarily has to offer is example and witness. In fact, the person, experience and ideals of St Francis constitute a message, the validity of which is accepted and recognised by Christians of all denominations. Because of the experience of St Francis, a Franciscan is an ecumenical person by vocation. Francis is ecumenical and universal because of his radical Gospel experience, because of his love for the word of God which effected in him a continual conversion, because of his attachment to the Church, because of his work of reconciliation and peace, because of the kind of relationship he established with all people and with the whole of creation: all this makes of him the new man, who recovered the balance of his relationships with God, with people and with creation, and to whom each person can turn in hope.

Francis is an ecumenical man because he lived the Christian experience within his Church in a spirit of catholicity. His love for and his attachment to the Roman Catholic Church are well known: in a comprehensive vision embracing all peoples and all races, he prays for the holy catholic and apostolic Church (1Reg 23); to it, in the person of the Pope, he promises obedience and reverence (1Reg Introduction; 2Reg 1) and entrusts his Order to it as to a loving mother (Sp 78); the friars must profess faith in the Catholic Church under pain of expulsion from the Order (1Reg 19; Test; LM 4,3); even for his mission he wanted to obtain a mandate from the Pope (Anp 7,31).

Francis lives in the heart of the one and as yet undivided Western Church and knows nothing about the present ecumenical problems. But he was strongly attached to the Catholic Church for reasons, not of ownership or of opposition, but of communion; this is an attitude which makes living one's Christian life an advertisement for all Christians. The person who is genuinely catholic is ecumenical and universal: for this reason, Francis is above all divisions. Every true Christian experience is nourished by its roots, rather than by its subsequent expressions in history. It is only when a start is made from the profound unity which is born of adherence to the Gospel roots that one can arrive at a visible unity.

Because of this profound sentire cum Ecclesia, the experience of Francis has significance for modern ecumenism which, following on the ecumenical revival effected by the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church through the Second Vatican Council, finds itself in perfect harmony with the Franciscan ideal. Francis's fidelity to the Church finds modern expression relative to the Catholic Church of Vatican II, which is a Church in dialogue, as is indicated in the conciliar document Unitatis redintegratio.

1. Ecumenism

By ecumenism is meant the totality of the efforts and activities aimed at re-establishing full communion between Christians. The initial steps, which were destined to lead to the consolidation of the present ecumenical movement, go back to the last century which saw the creation of missionary societies, confessional federations or alliances, student and youth associations and other interconfessional initiatives. Officially, the ecumenical movement traces its date of origin back to the international missionary conference of Edinburgh in 1910. This gave birth to three great mainstreams which later came together in the World Council of Churches (WCC): "Life and Action", "Faith and Constitution" and "International Council of the Missions". The high points of reference of the World Council of Churches are the general assemblies: Amsterdam (1948, in which year the WCC was set up), Evanston (1954), New Delhi (1961), Upsala (1968), Nairobi (1975), Vancouver (1983) and Canberra (1991).

At first, the Catholic Church did not look favourably on this ecumenical movement seeing that it was born in a Protestant environment. She too had her own problems with Christian unity, but in her dealings with the other churches she was guided by her own ecclesiology. Her commitment to bring about their conversion and to pray for their return to the Catholic Church reflected an attitude of mission and unification; however, she progressively moved forward into a genuinely ecumenical phase with the Second Vatican Council. When proclaiming the Council, John XXIII had already declared that one of its principal aims was the promotion of unity among Christians. The Council produced a document on ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio, in which it acknowledged that the ecumenical movement is the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit and committed the Catholic Church to enter into it with zeal (UR 1-4). But many other documents also testify to the new attitude of the Catholic Church: Lumen gentium, Unitatis redintegratio and Orientalium Ecclesiarum speak of a new ecclesiology, Dei verbum reveals the centrality of the word of God and its relationship with tradition, Dignitatis humanae expounds the right to religious liberty, Nostra Aetate initiates new relations with Hebraism and other religions, Gaudium et spes places relations with the world in a positive light. Taken together, all these documents are an indication that the Church of Vatican II wants renewal and is capable of dialogue.

Naturally this turn-about has its origins in roots planted by some pioneers of ecumenism. At least three names, each representing a distinctive approach, deserve mention: Father Lambert Beauduin who in 1926 founded the monastery of the union, now at Chevetogne, in Belgium, for the study of and contact with the Orthodox Churches, and then published the review Irenikon ; Father Yves Congar who in 1937, with the publication of Chrétiens désunis, launched the series Unam sanctam and the whole mainstream of doctrinal ecumenism. However, Father Paul Couturier was the one who initiated the real change-over to the new ecumenical spirit from the old ecumenism of return and of judging negatively the ecclesiological situation of the other churches: in 1935 he transformed the octave of prayer for the return of other Christians to the Church of Rome into the universal week of prayer for the unity of Christians, "for the sanctification of all...for the unity which Christ desires for his Church with the means he chooses...to be given how, when and where he may wish". It was the start of what came to be defined as "spiritual ecumenism", which was regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical commitment, because from it springs openness to conversion, the root of all ecumenism and a precondition for unity.

For this reason, ecumenism is not a doctrine, neither is it mere habitual behaviour; it is an experience, in the sense that it involves the whole Christian person, in his faith and in his activities, making him reach down to the deep roots of his spirituality as the word and instruments of grace. Formally too, this is the reason why ecumenism is in harmony with the Franciscan school of theology which is not satisfied with pure speculation and does not allow itself to be reduced to mere pragmatism, but which leads the person in all his humanity to the contemplation of, and to participation in, the divine world.

2. Conversion and reconciliation: fulcrum of the experience of St Francis and the way to unity.

Conversion marks the key-moment in the life of St Francis and is born of a personal encounter with the crucified Christ of San Damiano (2 Cel 10). It is the fruit of God's free initiative: "The Lord inspired me...to embark upon a life of penance" (Test). Just as the proclamation of the kingdom commences with the invitation to conversion (Mt 4,17), so the experience of Francis, from the moment he encountered the Crucifix, takes its direction from hearing the text of the Gospel which constitutes an invitation to conversion and a change of life (1 Cel 22). He soon gave expression to his conversion when he kissed the leper (2 Cel 9), when he decided to leave the world (Test) and when he determined to minister to the lepers (2 Cel 9). Conversion for Francis meant reconciliation: primarily reconciliation with God, discovered as Father (2 Cel 12) and Creator (Canticle) and consequently reconciliation with all creatures, with the society within which the friars are to live as "minors", with the clergy whose sins he did not wish to consider (Test), with the unbelievers to whom he wishes to offer only the witness of submission (1Reg 16). For Francis conversion is an ongoing attitude which makes him say at the end of his life: "Let us begin to serve the Lord God, because up to this we have made little or no progress" (1 Cel 103).

Because of this experience of his as a man reconciled, Francis becomes the one who promotes reconciliation by agreement. Think of the falcon to which Francis bound himself in a pact of intense friendship (LM 8,10). Think of the significance of the episode with the wolf of Gubbio (Fior 21): having already effected a reconciliation with the wolf, Francis gave a guarantee that the animal would observe the peace terms: thus would come about reconciliation between wolf and people. Reconciliation with God breaks down any selfish pretensions of independence and of authority over others, and therefore leads to reconciliation with all creatures. This gives birth to the spirit of poverty which attributes and restores all things to God, thus removing any motive for rivalry and division between people: it is the way to bring about reconciliation between them. Only in this way are we able to understand how the Canticle of the Creatures can reconcile the bishop and the magistrate of Assisi (LP 44): reconciliation with God and with creation blossoms into fraternal reconciliation.

Together with his experience of reconciliation, it is this attitude of radical conversion and of enthusiasm for newness in life which makes Francis a profoundly ecumenical man. In fact, conversion is the soul of all ecumenism: "There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion. For it is from newness of attitudes of mind, from self-denial and unstinted love, that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way" (UR 7). Conversion signals a real change of life and direction, in one's own viewpoint, feelings and judgements. This conversion must first of all be personal, but it must also have a bearing on the Church as such, by dismissing the preconceived idea that there are others to be converted to the Catholic Church. In fact, before casting doubts on others, "the primary duty of Catholics is to make a careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be renewed and done in the Catholic household itself" (UR 4), since "Christ summons the Church, as she goes her pilgrim way, to that continual reformation of which she always has need in so far as she is an institution of men here on earth" (UR 6).

This conversion primarily entails a new way of looking at and of judging the other churches in their life and their doctrine. This calls for a serious commitment to overcome many grave and widespread preconceptions of a historical and doctrinal nature, and "to eliminate words, judgments and activities which do not reflect with fairness and truth the condition of the separated brethren and which consequently makes mutual relations with them more difficult" (UR 4). One will thus arrive at a knowledge and joyful appreciation of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the other Churches and of "the truly Christian endowments for our common heritage which are to be found among our separated brethren" (UR 4). Once we acknowledge this, we adopt towards them a new attitude, one that is practical and free of polemical rivalry, in a spirit of loving fraternity, a spirit "of being genuinely self-denying, humble, gentle in the service of others and having an attitude of brotherly generosity toward them" (UR 7). When it is understood in this way, ecumenism truly becomes an education in the life of the Christian and the Church.

Expressive of genuine conversion is the acknowledgement of one's own faults against unity. The Council emphasises this: "St John has testified: If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us (1 John 1,10). This holds good for sins against unity. Thus, in humble prayer we beg pardon of God and of the separated brethren just as we forgive them that offend us" (UR 7); in fact, history teaches us how "... in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame" (UR 3). In this spirit, the Council acknowledges the faults of Christians vis-à-vis the Jews ( Nostra aetate, 4), in admitting freedom of conscience and religion (Dignitatis humanae, 12), in giving birth to atheism (Gaudium and spes, 19), in relationships with the world and with science ( Gaudium et spes, 36).

In so far as it is the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit who brings about the conversion and transforms hearts, ecumenism is similar in nature to the spiritual experience of Francis.

(To be continued)