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“There is urgent need for an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelization and service.” Francis said this in his address to a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC, Calvinists), underlining that a common faith in Jesus “impels Christians of different denominations to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships, and the world around us”. He also expressed the hope that in a world increasingly experiencing “spiritual desertification”, Catholic communities are called to be “sources” of water that quench our thirst with hope, together bearing witness to “God’s merciful love”.
“Our meeting here today is one more step along the journey that marks the ecumenical movement,” Francis said, “a blessed and hope-filled journey whereby we strive to live ever more fully in accord with the Lord’s prayer ‘that all may be one’.” “Ten years have passed since a delegation of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches visited my predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Since then, in 2010, the historic unification between the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches took place. This union offered a tangible example of progress towards the goal of Christian unity, and was a source of encouragement to many on the path of ecumenism. Today, we must above all be grateful to God for our rediscovered brotherhood, which, as Saint John Paul II wrote, is not the consequence of a large-hearted philanthropy or a vague family spirit, but is rooted in recognition of the oneness of Baptism and the subsequent duty to glorify God in his work.”
“In this spiritual fellowship, Catholics and Reformed Christians can strive to grow together in order to better serve the Lord,” Francis underlined, evoking once again the theological dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which emphasises “the necessary link between justification and justice. Our faith in Jesus,” Francis underlined, “impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us. On the basis of an agreement on the doctrine of justification, there are many areas in which Reformed and Catholics can work together in bearing witness to God’s merciful love, which is the true remedy for the confusion and indifference that seem to surround us. In effect, today we often experience “a spiritual desertification”. Especially in places where people live as if God did not exist, our Christian communities are meant to be sources of living water quenching thirst with hope, a presence capable of inspiring encounter, solidarity and love. They are called to receive and rekindle God’s grace, to overcome self-centredness and to be open to mission.”
“Faith,” the Pope remarked, “cannot be shared if it is practiced apart from life, in unreal isolation and in self-referential communities resistant to change. Thus it would be impossible to respond to the insistent thirst for God that nowadays finds expression also in various new forms of religiosity. These at times risk encouraging concern for oneself and one’s needs alone, and promoting a kind of ‘spiritual consumerism’.”
According to the Pope, “there is urgent need for an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelization and service. Certainly many such initiatives and good forms of cooperation exist in many places. Yet clearly we can all do more, together, ‘to offer a convincing reason for the hope that is in us’, by sharing with others the Father’s merciful love that we graciously receive and are called generously to bestow in turn.”
The World Communion of Reformed Churches delegation included: the president, pastor Jerry Pillay; the secretary general, pastor Chris Ferguson; the executive secretary for justice, pastor Dora Arce Valentin; theological consultant Aruna Gnanadason; the president of AIPRAL (Alianza de Iglesias Presbiterianas y Reformadas de América Latina y el Caribe) Elder Gabriela Mulder; the moderator of the Waldensian Table Rev. Eugenio Bernardini and WCRC executive secretary for communications Deacon Phil Tanis.
