The long road to Unity

In the last century, God’s Holy Spirit inspired within Christians of various denominations the desire to re-establish unity among Christians throughout the world. And it was during the closing celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1959 that Pope John XXIII announced the convening of a council; he underlined that promoting Christian unity would be one of its primary tasks.

Vatican II met this challenge by publishing the Decree on Ecumenism “Unitatis redintegratio”. The first words of this decree are still relevant for us today: “… many Christian communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but differ in mind and go their different ways, as if Christ Himself were divided. Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.” The ecumenical movement today is an imperative that Christians cannot afford to ignore.

Although we might not be in contact with Christians of other denominations in our normal course of affairs, we can neither remain indifferent to the ecumenical movement nor ignore Jesus’ invitation: “May they be one… so that the world may believe.” (John 17:21). Through our prayers, we must support those who make a significant contribution through theological discussions that lead to doctrinal accords; those who work ecumenically in the field of social justice, those who hold ecumenical dialogues on a regular basis.

This year, the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is “You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48) It was Christ’s last instruction to us; we are urged to meditate upon it.

The Gospel cannot be proclaimed by conflicting voices. To what are we witnessing, as Christians, we who call ourselves Christ’s disciples? Are we witnesses to reconciliation, to the joy of a unified community… or to something quite the opposite? Once a year, it is good to be reminded that many steps lie ahead of us along the road toward Christian unity.

† Jean-Claude Turcotte
Archbishop of Montréal