(Photo by Vatican Media)
Where now for Visible Unity?
By Sam D’Angelo, CPPS
On Tuesday March 18th, 2025, a webinar entitled, “The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity” was hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity as part of the WCC’s Faith and Order World Conference which reflected on the thematic question, “Where now for visible unity?” Participants zoomed in worldwide for the webinar. The webinar presented the Vatican’s 152-page study document ‘The Bishop of Rome, Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint. It was led by presenters Rev. Professor Dr. Juan Usma Gomez and Rev. Prof. Dr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Additional perspectives were presented from Orthodox, Anglican and Free Churches by Prof. Dr. Eve Tibbs, Prof. Dr. Nicholas Sagovsky, and Prof. Fr. Elizabeth Newman. Panel discussions and interactive question and answer sessions also marked the event.
The study document published in 2024, was the result of Pope John Paul’s call in the encyclical, Ut Unum Sint, promulgated on May 25,1995, for church leaders and theologians to discern together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome could be re-visioned as a “service of love recognized by all concerned.” (#95 Ut Unum Sint). It was the hope of Pope John Paul II that a future publication resulting from such dialogue and reflection with other Christian denominations would contribute to further theological understanding of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome in service to Christian unity in the entire world. The Dicastery felt the 25th Anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical in 2020 was an opportune moment to resume and deepen the discussions and dialogues thus far by integrating new theological dialogue documents and the writings of successive popes. The convocation of the synod on synodality by Pope Francis was seen as a confirmation of the work of the dicastery and the means by which the ecumenical movement might find a path forward. Pope Francis therefore published the Study Document to highlight the work that has been done since Ut Unum Sint.
Some areas for further dialogue and exploration regarding the Bishop of Rome included the following: greater reflection on Petrine texts, whether the office of the bishop of Rome is of divine or human origin, interpreting the dogmatic statements of Vatican I in their historical context and in light of the teachings of Vatican II, a mutual interdependency between primacy and synodality in governance, and as regards the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, a “search for perfect and total communion which is neither absorption nor fusion, but a meeting in truth and love.” (#174 Bishop of Rome Study Document). To read the study document yourself, please click on the following link: https://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/documenti/altri-testi/the-bishop-of-rome.html
From a Precious Blood perspective, I find the following words of John Paul II in Ut Unum Sint resonant with the ecumenical core value proposed by our twenty-first General Assembly: “How indeed can we proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation without at the same time being committed to working for reconciliation between Christians? However true it is that the Church, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit and with the promise of indefectibility, has preached and still preaches the Gospel to all nations, it is also true that she must face the difficulties which derive from the lack of unity. When non-believers meet missionaries who do not agree among themselves, even though they all appeal to Christ, will they be in a position to receive the true message? Will they not think that the Gospel is a cause of division, despite the fact that it is presented as the fundamental law of love?” (#98, Ut Unum Sint). As Ambassadors of Reconciliation, let us therefore take this reflection to heart and strive to keep the ecumenical spirit of the Church alive in our personal lives, our parishes, our ministries, and our congregation.