Friends:

In December, Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos--a leading Orthodox Ecumenist
and the recipient of the Consortium Ecumenism Award last spring--died after
a bout with cancer. May he rest in peace.

The Archbishop was a wonderful man. A festschrift in honor of his 80th Birthday--a
book filled with scholarly articles and letters of congratulation--was completed and presented
to him by its editor Jack Figel shortly before the Archbishop took a turn for the worse.

In that volume I remarked:

"Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos has been a prime advocate for Christian unity—particularly the unity of East and West--for the last two decades. His collected works express his interest in church history, ecclesiology, the church in Ukraine and many other topics.[1] He modestly says that he offers “thoughts and pastoral reflections that might be inspirational and perhaps food for thought for the next generation….”[2]

The Archbishop is a man of gentle honesty. He names the problems that face us on the road to Christian unity. He does so with great respect for all.

His approach reminds me of humility in its deepest sense. It seems to me that this virtue is crucial to attaining unity. Humility is a gift from God that we should continue to seek—as has Archbishop Vsevolod."

I hope that, God willing, readers of this Blog might have the humility to
advance the cause of Christian unity.

Peace,
John



[1] His works are collected in We Are All Brothers (Fairfax, Virginia: Eastern Christian Publications, 1999) and We Are All Brothers- 2 (Fairfax, Virginia: Eastern Christian Publications, 2006). 2] We Are All Brothers, vii.

Friends:

I thought that in this new year I would vary my posts a bit.
What follows is a short article on ecumenism.

I would like to dedicate this article to Archbishop Vsevolod, who
is quoted at the beginning. He died in December after a struggle with cancer.
He was a great ecumenist.


The Fear Factor—And Spiritual Growth[1]


We can have a ‘fear of ecumenism’. Ukrainian Orthodox Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos remarks in one of his essays that he found on entering the ecumenical movement that fear is the major obstacle to Christian Unity. The thought of the emerging unity—formal and informal--among Christian traditions can be very disconcerting.

Fears can originate in our own life history.

Growing up Catholic in Philadelphia in the ‘50s, I developed a deeply grounded faith. I knew the Baltimore Catechism by heart.

We did not enter Protestant churches and Protestants did not enter ours. We might play sports together and even work together but praying together was forbidden!

The church began to change when I was in High School in the ‘60’s.

In those days, our pastor began to collaborate with the Lutheran congregation across the street. Among other things, they worked together on a ‘Summer Bible School’.

My present full-time work with the Consortium is a direct result of this ‘lowering of the walls of hostility’ at the Second Vatican Council [1962-65].

As we get to know good people of other Christian traditions, their deep faith can impress us and raise fears within us at the same time. The fear is that our friendships with their conversations and dialogues will ‘shake our faith’ or deepen it. Either will mean change.

Deep down we are very emotional people. Years ago my colleague Sister Rita, the Academic Dean of DeSales School of Theology, used to say: ‘There is a good reason and the real reason’. The good reason for my discomfort might be rational; the real reason is often a deep emotional attachment to history, to persons and to places.

We have deep attachments that can sometimes be threatened by serious conversations. Conversations might cause our anchors to move. They might push all of us out of our ‘comfort zones of consolation and happy memories’.

We also might fear that we will embarrass ourselves by not knowing enough about our own faith. Let me note--after ten years in ecumenical work—that I haven’t embarrassed myself any more than I do normally. Most of my fears have been groundless.

The people I’ve dealt with in ecumenical conversation have been outstanding.

Dick Abbot, an Episcopal layman, was the seventh executive director of the Consortium. For many years previously, he had served with the World Bank. From him, I learned that to be successful ecumenists must proceed with perseverance, joy and hard work.

My ecumenical conversations have forced me to go deeper in my faith in ways that I did not expect. They really have been an addition not a subtraction.

My real ecumenical fear is fear of spiritual growth. It is at the root of all these other fears.

Ecumenical dialogue has pushed me ever so gently toward spiritual maturity. My conversation partners expect me to love deeply and not live in fear.






[1] The original version of this essay appeared as a column for Catholic News Service.

Friends:

I have returned to the daily routine of the office
after teaching for 7 days at Gettysburg Lutheran.
The course was on Spiritual Ecumenism.

I always enjoy my visits to Gettysburg.
People are warmly welcoming--despite the cold and rain
of January. The students are very good--I always learn something.

This year I was hindered by a bad cold--but struggled through.
I had the help of my guest speakers--Rev. Thomas Prinz, Dr. Mitzi
Budde and Rev. John Farrelly, OSB. They provided a different voice--and this
year a clear one in contrast to my attenuated one!

Let me encourage you to consider taking or teaching a course at Gettysburg someday.
It is quite a good experience.

Peace,
John