Each year for well over five decades, the Catholic Church has joined the Orthodox Church and most Protestant churches to dedicate a week to pray for Christian unity. This week developed out of several decades in the 20th century of dialogue among Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants with the goal of full communion among us. This year’s week is currently underway and will end on Tuesday, January 25, with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.
One of the great outcomes of Vatican II was our global commitment to Christian unity. We have been involved in official ecumenical dialogue on the national and international level ever since. The Vatican established the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) shortly after Vatican II and has been engaged in dozens of official international dialogues with the Orthodox and nearly all Protestant communities ever since. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has also established ecumenical dialogue with these two communities on the national level.
Since 2013, I have been privileged to serve on a team of seven Catholics appointed by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity to engage in international ecumenical dialogue with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This church was established in the United States in the early 1800’s and was among the first groups to seek official dialogue with the Catholic Church after Vatican II. It has been a fascinating experience to explore both common as well as divergent beliefs about our Christian faith.
Between 2013-2018, we focused on how we are respectively formed and transformed by the Eucharist. A report on the progress we made during this phase of discussion was affirmed by the PCPCU and the leadership of the Christian Church and marked progress in unity between our two churches. Our current dialogue is focusing on the importance and role of the Holy Spirit. The dialogue for this phase has already surfaced topics of great importance to both of our communities.
Praying for Christian unity is officially something we do each January 18-25, but I would ask you to pray for this unity on a regular basis throughout the year. We have made much progress since Vatican II ended in 1965, but we still have many miles to travel to get to the place where we end the scandal of division in the Christian family.
Reverend Monsignor Michael G. Clay is pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Raleigh.