PROTESTANT ECUMENISM. - I. TENDENCIES
The pseudo-Reformation of the sixteenth century gave rise among Protestants to two divergent and opposed tendencies that still endure today: one openly anti-Catholic, founded on the principle of free examination, which leads to division and fragmentation; the other pro-Catholic, founded on Our Lord’s prayer to his Father, «Ut unum sint» (Io. 17. 21), which attracts and urges them toward the ancient and ecumenical union. The first tendency is attested by the many sects into which Protestantism has been divided, so numerous that today (1940), in South Africa alone, about 800 are counted. The second tendency is attested not only by the unionist writings of distinguished Protestant authors such as H. Grotius (1642), R. Baxter (1680), S. Werenfels (1720), but also by the continual efforts that the sects have made to unite, whether partially, e.g., Zwinglians and Calvinists (1546), Anglicans and Eastern Christians (1716–25), or totally, as Protestants and Catholics (1661–97). At times the civil government also intervened to impose such unions, as, for example, the King of Prussia did in 1817 with the Lutherans and the Reformed in his Kingdom. These attempts increased in number and importance up to the present day.
II. INTERSECTARIAN SOCIETIES
A step forward, or, if one prefers, a new aspect, was given to the ecumenical movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the intersectarian or interdenominational societies. It was a sui generis movement, which scarcely deserves the name of ecumenical.
These societies admitted any individual from any sect, without regard to the doctrines professed by the individual members or candidates: it was enough that they wished to work directly or indirectly for the purpose pursued by the society. Thus, with the sole aim of evangelizing the pagans, the London Missionary Society arose in England (1799) and the American Board in the United States (1810). With the aim of translating the Bible into all languages, printing and disseminating it, the British and Foreign Bible Society was founded in England in 1801 and the American Bible Society in North America (1825). The English Religious Tract Society (1799) and the American Tract Society (1825) had no other purpose than to publish every kind of religious and moral printed material. To unite all the Churches except the Catholic Church, the World Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1846. In the same year, the Young Men Christian Association was organized in Paris to promote the religious, physical and intellectual well-being of young people; it was followed later (1895) by the World or Ecumenical Confederation of Christian Students, which devoted itself especially to students.
All these societies, which still endure, by reason of their universal or almost universal character (some clearly or covertly exclude Catholics), possessed a certain appearance of ecumenicity, since they implied some form of universal government over the members, exercised by one or several leaders; but by showing indifference to, or disregarding, the faith and religion of the individual members, they deprived ecumenicity of its principal foundation, the unity of faith. In practice, however, they achieved good results with regard to the purpose they claimed to pursue.
III. FEDERAL UNIONS
In the nineteenth century, and especially at the beginning of the twentieth, the Protestant sects, moved not only by the pressing appeal of «Ut unum sint» but also by the continual divisions that at this time were increasingly shattering Protestantism, devised a new kind of union—not of isolated individuals, as in the intersectarian societies mentioned above, but of entire sects or Churches—thus forming the so-called federal or federative unions. All the sects may enter such unions while retaining their own doctrines, their own system of government and their own worship.
There is a board or common secretariat which cannot promulgate laws, but can only issue norms and suggestions to protect and foster common interests; the individual sects, however, are free to accept or reject them. Each sect sends two delegates to this board, who, together with those of the other sects, form the superior council; it also sends other deputies, more or less numerous according to the greater or lesser number of affiliates belonging to the sect. About thirty American sects united in this way in 1908 to form the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America; but these unions achieved better results among sects of the same origin that were separated from one another chiefly by questions of discipline or government. The Anglicans and Episcopalians have held the Lambeth Conferences every ten years (v. CONFERENZE) since 1867; in 1877 the Presbyterians founded the «Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the world which are governed by the Presbyterian system»; the Methodists went so far as to adopt the epithet «ecumenical» when they established the Ecumenical Methodist Conference in 1881; in 1905 the Baptist World Alliance was formed among the Baptists, and finally, among the Lutherans, the Lutheran World Convention in 1923. The federative union, practically respecting the independence of the individual sects, which were united only by a weak bond, was fairly widespread among many sects, even those of different origins.
The twentieth century may be called the century of Protestant ecumenism. Indeed, this aspiration toward ecumenism can be discerned in the publications, in the new theory of organic or corporate union, and in the pan-Christian conferences that culminated in the great Ecumenical Congress of Amsterdam in 1948. Throughout this ecumenical movement, the two original tendencies remain prominent: the tendency toward union, always and everywhere obstructed by the tendency toward free examination.
The new theory of organic and corporate union recognizes the Church of Christ in a society in which all possess the same faith in the same Lord, the same Sacraments and the same ministers. This union would not be attainable in the present state of Protestantism, but perhaps in the future; and therefore its proponents add that the Church resulting from this union would represent in the future what existed at the beginning: the organic and visible unity of redeemed humanity (cf. K. Mackenzie, Union of Christendom, London 1938). When it appeared, this theory immediately found serious opponents: some wished categorically to exclude Catholics, or Quakers, or anti-Trinitarians (who were in fact excluded from the Ecumenical Congress of Amsterdam), or Churches composed of Black people. There were also those who wished to conduct the experiment at least among some sects, and thus the so-called united Churches were formed. In Canada, the United Church of Canada arose among Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists, but the lengthy negotiations (1908–25) that took place revealed the difficulties involved. In China, Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Reformed, «United Brethren» and some others united in 1927. The doctrines on which all must agree are: faith in Christ as Redeemer; faith in his Kingdom; the inspiration and authority of Sacred Scripture; and the Apostles’ Creed as the fundamental expression of faith. This new Church still encounters various difficulties and cannot be regarded as a model of corporate union. Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Wesleyans and several Anglican dioceses in South India were to undertake the experiment of union from 1929 to 1959; Indian independence provided the occasion for ending the experiment not in 1959 but in 1947. Yet serious difficulties still remain among them, and not all the conditions for a sound and genuine organic union have been observed.
All these obstacles foreseen in the experiment led some to an original solution: to suppose that the organic union already exists, but in a hidden form, with the firm conviction that in due time it will manifest itself. The Anglo-Catholics suppose the Church of Christ to be formed by the three great Churches that have preserved the episcopate, namely, the Catholic, the Eastern, and the Anglican. This union is not accepted by the Catholic Church, nor by the East, nor by most Anglicans; but it is regarded as existing by the Anglo-Catholics, who simply call themselves Catholics and give their suppositive Church the name of the Catholic and also ecumenical Church. The Pan-Christians, extending the field of the Anglo-Catholics, include in their “Holy Catholic Church,” which they say exists though hidden, all the Christian Churches—that is, those Christians who profess the fundamental truths (the Incarnation, etc.), consider secondary truths to be free matters of belief (whether the Sacraments are 7 or only 2), and reject peripheral truths (the Immaculate Conception, papal infallibility). This theory was condemned by the Supreme Pontiff Pius XI in the encyclical Mortalium animos of 6 January 1928. Such a conception, which supposes the union of all the Christian Churches to exist already, seems to be assumed by the Pan-Christian conferences, which proceed from the principle that the sects gathered in the conferences represent the Una Sancta, and speak in the name of this Church in their manifestos addressed to all Christians (v. CONFERENZE PANCristiane).
To find organic union among the Protestant sects is an impossible undertaking so long as they do not renounce their fundamental principle of free examination. Other reasons make the problem difficult. Many sects, for example, although perhaps living a languid life, nevertheless communicate to their members what they possess: doctrine, piety, love of Jesus Christ, esteem for the Bible, guidance, and external and internal assistance, so that the faithful feel offended when they are spoken to of a change in the religious sphere. Moreover, not a few sects are convinced that God Himself wills diversity of doctrines in His Church, so that each sect may bring out in itself some particular revealed truth that is neglected or forgotten by the others; and they believe that each possesses at least a part of the revealed truths and clings to these with all its strength. Furthermore, many Protestants believe themselves to be justified, and that this justification is manifested in a good and moral life which fills them with a joy and a freedom that make them independent of everything that is historical and external contingency. They therefore fear that organic union might disturb the inward and tranquil union which they say they feel with God, and they reject the idea of having to subject this intimate union to the laws of a rigorous unity of doctrine and government. Added to all this are the natural inertia that opposes every change, especially in religious matters; the ignorance that the individual sects have of the doctrine, history, and life of the others; the inevitable legacy of controversies and prejudices, systematically preserved and periodically revived, of one sect against another and of all against the Catholic Church; the numerous schemes of union and the ambiguous language used in them, which many do not have time to examine and about which they fail to reach agreement: all this constitutes an obstacle to organic union among Protestants.
Pan-Christian conferences (v.) were the most important fruits of the entire unionist movement of the twentieth century. Foreseeing that it would not be prudent for the Protestants to deal immediately in their first general meetings with doctrinal questions, which would have stirred up a hornet’s nest, they therefore concerned themselves at the first conference, held at Edinburgh in 1910, only with missions—the “world missionary conferences”; in 1925 they met again at Stockholm, calling this union the “Conference on Life and Action,” and discussed only social questions; then, encouraged by the relative success of the two preceding conferences, they decided to meet at Lausanne (1927) to address doctrinal questions—the “Conferences on Faith and Order.” By a prudent agreement, the fruit of the experience gained at the two latest conferences, those of Oxford, “Life and Action,” and Edinburgh, “Faith and Order,” held almost consecutively one after the other (1937), it was decided to unite the two movements in the World Council of Churches, of which fuller information is provided.
IV. AMSTERDAM ASSEMBLY
The pan-Christian Assembly held at Amsterdam (22 Aug.–4 Sept. 1948) is known by the name of Ecumenical Council; but its official title is World Council of Churches (W.C.C.), or World (Ecumenical) Council of the Churches. Although called “worldwide,” it was not so in fact. The anti-Trinitarian sects, expressly excluded, were absent, as were some important groups, such as the Southern Baptists of the United States, the Missouri Lutherans, etc. The Russian Church officially refused to take part, and the Catholic Church completely abstained.At the two preceding conferences of 1937 (Oxford and Edinburgh), held separately, the advisability of uniting the two movements called “Life and Work” and “Faith and Order” became clear, so as not to separate religion from practice, Creed from commandments.
Indeed, “Life and Work” ran the risk of being reduced to practical and social activities at the expense of religion; “Faith and Order,” of limiting itself to doctrinal discussions alone, without attending to practice. But since the missions movement was intimately linked with these two movements, the International Missionary Council (I.M.C.) was included in the council of the churches; although it was not a “Church” but merely a “society,” practically the entire Protestant missionary movement in the world depended upon II.
The Ecumenical Council was to meet in 1941, but because of the war that broke out in 1939 it had to be postponed until 1948. During the interval, the provisional committee carried out extensive relief work and carefully prepared whatever might contribute to the success of the undertaking entrusted to II.
The aim was to find the Church (the “Una Sancta”) among the Churches—that is, to determine, among all the doctrines professed by the Churches summoned, which were to be accepted by the “Una Sancta.”
Very serious difficulties did not escape the intelligent and even-tempered secretary of the Council, W. A. Wisser's Hooft: “We all believe,” he wrote, “that there is a Church within the Churches, but we do not agree on how and where it exists, how and where it is realized”; and on another occasion he wrote: “The Ecumenical Council must not claim to represent the ‘Una Sancta,’ but it can and must proclaim that it is a body in which and through which, when it pleases God, the ‘Una Sancta’ will manifest itself.”
The general theme of the discussions was summed up in this motto: human disorder and God’s design. This extensive subject was divided into four principal points, to be studied by competent men and then examined by four commissions: 1) the universal Church in God’s design; 2) God’s design and human witness; 3) the Church and the disorder of society; 4) the Church and international questions. Profound and careful studies were presented on the four subjects; there were also some fairly favorable ones concerning the Catholic Church (K. E. Skydsgaard and F. H. Villain). They were all diligently examined by the four commissions to which they belonged, and conclusions were drawn from them, which were then submitted for discussion by the general assembly. The Council was inaugurated with great solemnity on the appointed day (22 Aug.), and, together with the 400 official delegates of 150 Churches, approximately 3,000 people attended, as many as could enter the Niewe Kerk of Amsterdam. Everything proceeded in an orderly and peaceful manner, disturbed only slightly by the debate between the American G. Foster Dulles, who attacked communism, and the Czechoslovak Hromadka, who spoke at length on the benefits derived by religion from it, and by Barth’s outbursts, inside and outside the meetings, against the Catholic Church. Some remarks on capitalism left an unpleasant impression on some. The Council concluded peacefully and, something noted and deplored by all, the Church assembled to unite was unable to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.
From the Council’s reports and conclusions it emerges that the Ecumenical Council of the Churches has been formed, that is, an organization for cooperation among the Churches represented, cooperation extending to missions, various philanthropic works, and the promotion of Christian life. The Churches did indeed proclaim their unity in Christ, but confessed that they do not possess unity of doctrine concerning the priesthood, the Sacraments, the Church, and its visible Head. The whole event caused optimism in some and discouragement in others: optimism because of the love and submission manifested toward Christ, the humble confession of the many divisions, and the desire to seek the “Una Sancta.” Discouragement because it was unfortunately foreseen that this would be found only in heaven.
In its final message, the Council, among other things, expressed the hope that the Church it envisioned and hoped to see born from the Amsterdam Conference would be the house in which everyone might find their home. For us Catholics, such a thing already exists, is open to all, is that of Jesus Christ, and is his Church founded upon the rock of Peter.
BIBLIOTHE: M. Barbera, Il vero significato di alcune correnti protestanti a proposito della Unità religiosa, Milano 1928; G. Jackson Slosser, Christian Unity, Londra 1929; M. Pribilla, Un Kirchliche Einheit, Friburgo in Br. 1929; Ch. II. Macfarland, Christian Unity in Practice and Prophecy, Nuova York 1933, pp. 178-228; H. B. Douglass, Church Unity Uncements, ivi 1934; M. J. Congar, Christiana desunta, Parigi 1937; C. Boyer, Le problème de la réunion des chrétiens, in Unitas, 2 (1947), pp. 319-338; J. C. Bennett, Man's Disorder and God's Design. Outline of Preparation for the First General Assembly, Londra 1947; J. W. Kennedy, Venture of Faith, Nuova York 1948; anon., The Message and Reports of the First Assembly of the W. C. C., Londra 1948; C. Crivelli, Sguardi sul mondo protestante, I. Roma 1949 (Manuali del pensiero cattolico, 33 a); G. Corti, L'Assemblea di Amsterdam, in La Scuola Cattolica, 77 (1949), pp. 263-85. Camillo Crivelli