On the Unity of the Church

NOTE OF THE EDITOR: These texts of His Holiness Pope John Paul II are presented here because they are typical of a "new language," a Modernist language. These texts, as such, are not heretical, but (1) they are silent on the differences in faith between Catholics and Anglicans; and (2) they open the door to a false understanding of the Dogma of the Unity of the Church. The texts of Tradition, on the contrary, are very clear and unambiguous. Putting one after the other, light after darkness, makes us more aware of their opposition.

THE SPIRIT OF VATICAN II:

"4. We can be confident in addressing our prayer for unity to the Holy Spirit today, for according to Christ's promise the Spirit, the Counsellor, will be with us for ever (Cf. Jn 14:16). It was with confidence that [Anglican] Archbishop Fisher made bold to visit Pope John XXIII at the time of the Second Vatican Council, and that [Anglican] Archbishops Ramsey and Coggan came to visit Pope Paul VI. It is with no less confidence that I have responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to be with you today at Canterbury.

5. My dear brothers and sisters of the Anglican Communion, 'whom I love and long for' (Phil 4:1), how happy I am to be able to speak directly to you today in this great Cathedral! The building itself is an eloquent witness both to our long years of common inheritance and to the sad years of division that followed. Beneath this roof Saint Thomas Becket suffered martyrdom. Here too we recall Augustine and Dunstan and Anselm and all those monks who gave such diligent service in this church. The great events of salvation history are retold in the ancient stained glass windows above us. And we have venerated here the manuscript of the Gospels sent from Rome to Canterbury thirteen hundred years ago. Encouraged by the witness of so many who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ through the centuries—often at the cost of their own lives—a sacrifice which even today is asked of not a few, as the new chapel we shall visit reminds us¹—I appeal to you in this holy place, all my fellow Christians, and especially the members of the Anglican Communion throughout the world, to accept the commitment to which Archbishop Runcie and I pledge ourselves anew before you today. This commitment is that of praying and working for reconciliation and ecclesial unity according to the mind and heart of our Savior Jesus Christ.'' (His emphasis.)

(Pope John Paul II, Address during the ecumenical ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral,
over which he and Dr. Robert Runcie, Primate of the Anglican Church,
presided on 29 May 1982. In L'Osservatore Romano, 31 May 1982.)

"The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission has now completed the task assigned to it with the publication of its Final Report, and as our two Communions proceed with the necessary evaluation, we join in thanking the members of the Commission for their dedication, scholarship and integrity in a long and demanding task undertaken for love of Christ and for the unity of his church." (My emphasis.)

(Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and Dr. Runcie.
In L 'Osservatore Romano, 1 June 1982.)

"2. 'Baptism, therefore, constitutes a sacramental bond of unity linking all who have been reborn by means of it' (Unitatis Redintegratio [Decree on Ecumenism], 22). The tragic divisions introduced among Christians do not destroy this fundamental unity . . . . The Second Vatican Council . . . . [said] that division is a sinful situation that nevertheless does not destroy the profound unity engendered by grace "

(Pope John Paul II, Homily concluding the annual Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity, 25 January 1984. In L'Osservatore Romano, 30 January 1984.)

CATHOLIC TRUTH:

"The Church in respect of its unity belongs to the category of things indivisible by nature, though heretics try to divide it into many parts . . . . We say, therefore, that the Catholic Church is unique in its essence, in its doctrine, in its origin, and in its excellence . . . . Moreover, the eminence of the Church arises from its unity, as the principle of its constitution—a unity excelling all else, and having nothing similar to it or equal to it."

(St. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis. 3rd Century. Quoted by Pope Leo XIII
in his Encyclical Satis cognitum [On the Unity of the Church], 20 June 1896.)

"The foundation on which this [ecumenical] society [formed in London in 1857] rests is of such a nature that it makes the divine establishment of the Church of no consequence. For, it is wholly in this: that it supposes the true Church of Jesus Christ to be composed partly of the Roman Church scattered and propagated throughout the whole world, partly, indeed, of the schism of Photius, and of the Anglican heresy, to which as well as to the Roman Church, 'there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism' (cf. Eph 4:5). Surely nothing should be preferable to a Catholic man than that schisms and dissensions among Christians be torn out by the roots and that all Christians be 'careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' (Eph 4:3) . . . . But, that the faithful of Christ and the clergy should pray for Christian unity under the leadership of heretics, and, what is worse, according to an intention, polluted and infected as much as possible with heresy, can in no way be tolerated. The true Church of Jesus Christ was established by divine authority, and is known by a fourfold mark, which we assert in the Creed must be believed; and each one of these marks so clings to the others that it cannot be separated from them; hence it happens that the Church which truly is, and is called [,] Catholic should at the same time shine with the prerogatives of unity, sanctity, and apostolic succession. Therefore, the Catholic Church alone is conspicuous and perfect in the unity of the whole world and of all nations, particularly in that unity whose beginning, root, and unfailing origin are that supreme authority and 'higher principality' of blessed PETER, the prince of the Apostles, and of his successors in the Roman Chair. No other Church is Catholic except the one which, founded on the one PETER, grows into one 'body compacted and fitly joined together' (Eph. 4:16) in the unity of faith and charity ....

"Therefore, the faithful should especially shun this London society, because those sympathizing with it favor indifferentism and engender scandal."

(Letter of the Sacred Office to the Bishops of England, 16 September 1864.
Quoted in Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, trans. Roy J. Deferrari from the
Thirtieth Edition of Henry Denzinger's Enchiridion Symbolorum, pp. 428-429.

". . . when we think of what was actually done we find that Jesus Christ did not, in point of fact, institute a Church to embrace several communities similar in nature, but in themselves distinct, and lacking those bonds which render the Church unique and indivisible after that manner in which in the symbol of our faith we profess: 'I believe in one Church.'

"The Church, founded, on these principles and mindful of its office, has done nothing with greater zeal and effort than it has shown in guarding the integrity of the faith. Hence it regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of its children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from its own. The Arians, the Montanists, the Novations, the Quartodecimans, the Eutychians, certainly did not reject all Catholic doctrine: they abandoned only a certain part of it. Still who does not know that they were declared heretics and banished from the bosom of the Church? In like manner were condemned all authors of heretical doctrines who followed them in subsequent ages. There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole series of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, taint the real and simple faith taught by Our Lord and handed down by apostolic tradition.'

"The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to consider as outside the Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would withdraw in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by its authoritative Magisterium. Epiphanius, Augustine, Theodoret, drew up a long list of the heresies of their times. St. Augustine observes that other heresies may spring up, to a single one of which, should any one give his assent, he is by this very fact cut off from Catholic unity. 'No one who absolutely does not believe in all (these heresies) can for that reason consider himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or may arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic.'

"The need of this divinely instituted means for the preservation of unity, about which We speak, is urged by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians. In this he first admonishes them to preserve with every care harmony of minds: Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace. And as souls cannot be perfectly united in charity unless minds agree in faith, he wishes all to keep the same faith: One Lord, one faith, and this so perfectly one as to prevent all danger of error: that we be now no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine devised in the wickedness of men, in craftiness, according to the wiles of error [Eph 4:14]." (Italics in original.)

(Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum [On the Unity of the Church], 20 June 1896.)

1.  According to a UPI news release, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Anglican Archbishop of Uganda Janani Luwum are among those venerated in this chapel for having, in the words of Pope John Paul II above, "professed their faith in Jesus Christ . . . at the cost of their own lives." "'We have a common vision,' Anglican Archbishop Runcie said, before joining the pope in placing candles on an altar to 20th-century martyrs such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, Anglican Archbishop of Uganda Janani Luwum, and St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Auschwitz priest of John Paul's Polish homeland." (The Dallas Morning News, 30 May 1982.)