In his contribution to this column on February 20th, the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Very Rev John Paterson, wrote of a "tetchiness and a tardiness" noticeable in interchurch relations in Ireland. The same, unfortunately, is noticeable once again.
Two Vatican documents have been the occasion for this new manifestation of ecumenical "tetchiness". Both came from Cardinal Ratzinger's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. One is the declaration entitled Dominus Iesus, on "the Unicity and Salvic Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church". The second is a Note on the Expression "Sister Churches", sent with a covering letter to presidents of episcopal conferences.
Reaction to these documents has been largely negative. Mr Magnus Linklater in the Times of September 7th subtitled his comment: "The Vatican's latest declaration spells the end of an ecumenical era" and described it as "unrepentently supremacist". The leader writer in The Irish Times the following day was more careful and restrained but did not hesitate to state that "this declaration turns its back on understandings achieved through ecumenical dialogue and co-operation over the past 30 years".
Elsewhere in its pages on Friday, September 8th, The Irish Times quoted the Church of Ireland bishops as "concerned and disappointed", reporting that they had written to the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in Ireland "seeking urgent clarification of their view on how Dominus Iesus affects the Irish situation".
It also reported the negative reactions of the National Conference of Priests in England and Wales, who sought public assurance from their bishops about the Catholic Church's commitment to ecumenism; an assurance which was immediately forthcoming from the archbishop in the letters columns of Saturday's Times.
For me, it is deeds not words that matter most. Words can be an attempt to change reality, as I fear may be the case with regard to these Vatican documents. Mostly, however, words are an attempt to understand reality. In this, of course, words often fail to do justice to reality. They can exaggerate the reality. They can downgrade it. In either case, however, it is for me the reality itself that matters.
However inappropriate, inopportune, insensitive, unhelpful and unjust they may be, words alone cannot at bottom undo the reality. They may disappoint. They may hurt. But the reality which they affect to express and understand can remain basically untouched.
Despite the vast improvements of recent decades something remains radically wrong in the state of the church. We all - and not just the Roman Catholic Church - think the others suffer "defects" of some sort. But we all have begun to recognise our own "defects" as well. Indeed, Anglicans in recent years have come to accept the concept and reality of "impaired communion" as obtaining within the Anglican communion as well as between it and the other churches.
In my view, it is very largely up to each and every one of us in our particular sphere (episcopal, clerical, lay) to determine the reality of our relationship with other churches and their members. What, if any, association do I have with the work and worship of my counterparts in other dioceses, parishes/congregations?
How much do they feature in my prayer life, personal and parochial? How often do I attend the services of other churches? Do I feel and act towards them as sisters/brothers/ neighbours? Even once in a while, for instance during the January Christian Unity week? Or do I basically ignore them? Or do I treat them as opponents?
IT IS in the light of the actual reality of my relationship - as diocesan bishop, as parish priest/minister, as a lay person - with other churches and their members that each of us must first of all react to the recent Vatican statements. If their words fail to do justice to the actual relationship which I have come to enjoy, it leaves that relationship intact. Indeed it will, I trust and hope, provide a spur towards improving the relationship.
One of the encouraging ecumenical events this summer was the meeting last May in a suburb of Toronto of pairs of bishops, Anglican and Roman Catholic, from 13 countries, including Ireland. The meeting, convened and chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury and by the President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity at the Vatican, recommitted itself "to the ecumenical endeavour with all Christian churches" but focused in particular on Anglican/Roman Catholic relationships.
It asked the pairs of bishops from each country not only to report back to their appointing bodies but also "to share the results of this meeting with the clergy and laity at the national and local church level".
If as well as "tetchiness" there is also a "tardiness" noticeable in Irish inter-church relations it must surely include this event. We still look forward to hearing more about it to help us to continue hoping against hope.
Father Michael Hurley SJ is a former director of the Irish School of Ecumenics, which he helped found, and was a member of the Columbanus Community of Reconciliation in Belfast until 1993.
