The New Ecumenism: Is the Imperial Church Coming Back?
A commentary by Carmelo Anastasi
Pastor of United Church of God congregations in Milan and Naples,
Italy
The Catholic Church has set January 17 as the "Day of Dialog" with
all non-Christians. Also, it has set January 18 as the Day of Prayers
for the unity of all Christians and religions. To this end various religious
leaders meet at the small town of Assisi, Italy, every year.
This month even some famous leaders of the Jewish community have joined
the club. Islamic religious leaders have cooperated with the Vatican
several years now.
No doubt the globalization process is being undertaken by churches and
religions, just as it's happening in the economic arena and politics.
Among all religious institutions, the Vatican is the strongest economically
as well as the most influential politically—both in Europe and
in the rest of the world.
The absence of reference to the "Christian" identity was one
of the factors that prevented several Catholic countries, except France,
from accepting the newly proposed European Constitution. With the term "Christian" they
refer to the Vatican, of course. In their view, all others are churches
that need to come back to the "mother church."
The idea of religious unity may seem a noble one. But what kind of unity
does modern ecumenism promote? That of "unity in diversities"—that
is, everyone may keep his own faith, as long as the values of the family
and human life are promoted. In other words, the first four of the Ten
Commandments, those that teach us how to love God, are not so important.
This position should not be surprising, as many of those who are involved
in modern ecumenism erroneously teach that the Ten Commandments were
abolished by Jesus Christ (see Matthew 5:17-18).
In past centuries there were rivalries between the Jewish world and
the Vatican. Now prominent Catholic and Jewish leaders are working together
towards ecumenism. Two of Israel's most prominent rabbis, Shlomo Amar
and Yona Mezger, recently invited the Roman pontiff to visit the synagogue
in Rome. They recognize the fact that the Vatican is, among all other
religious institutions in the world, the most powerful and most influential,
especially in Western and Eastern Europe.
The Vatican is, step by step, winning the trust of the Orthodox Jewish
and Islamic worlds. Such events may make some shout for joy, as the time
seems to have arrived for the end of all rivalries, conflicts and sorrows.
But will this modern ecumenism bring good to our nations? Will it improve
the quality in peoples' lives in the long run? And, if there is a God
in heaven, how does He view such trends?
Modern ecumenism is quite different from ancient ecumenism. The first
Ecumenical Council was held in 325 A.D at Nicea, Italy, by the Roman
Church to bring the various Christian churches under its control. This
was possible through persecutions and much bloodshed against those who
firmly maintained their viewpoints in doctrinal matters. The emperor
Constantine was the first emperor of the so-called Holy Roman Empire.
Could the Vatican's ecumenical movement lead to history repeating itself?
Modern ecumenism is expanding the Middle Age concept by promoting the
unification of all religions, very much in tune with the current globalization
process affecting virtually all other human activities. This would give
the ecumenical churches the opportunity to survive in a materialistic
world that does not seem to pay much attention to them anymore.
At the same time the world has serious financial and poverty problems,
and it is as divided and much more in danger than it was during the Middle
Ages—economically, politically and religiously. As additional nations
acquire the capacity to destroy entire other nations with weapons of
mass destruction, the need for world unity becomes more critical for
survival. All of these factors fuel the globalization process and world
ecumenism.
The problem is, who is going to lead world ecumenism and globalization?
Today the United States is leading the game in almost all the corners
of the earth. But America is losing more and more prestige and credibility
around the world, especially in the realm of religion and spirituality.
Meanwhile we are witnessing the birth and constant growth of a new "superpower-to-be" in
the same land of the ancient Holy Roman Empire. With the difference that,
within the Western and Eastern European Empire to be, there exist different
religious identities which sooner or later must surrender to the common
cause of this growing European Empire or succumb. To surrender means
they would have to give up their religious values, principles and doctrines.
A United Europe possesses all the means and interests to ultimately
surpass the United States and lead a new era of globalization. Could
the current divisions within the European parliament be healed by their
acceptance of the Roman pontiff, as was the case through the Middle Ages?
Last year the Roman pontiff was invited to speak to the Italian parliament,
and all deputies of any political color stood up as one body to honor
the one many consider Christ's vicar on earth. As matter of fact, the
media has labeled him the real king of Italy.
What if the Catholic Church were to be directly involved in the formation
of or in spiritually leading a United Europe as it did in the Middle
Ages?
In Europe there exists now a much more heterogeneous religious presence,
which includes not only the Jewish and Islamic faiths, but several other
oriental religions quite different from Christianity. How can a future
European superpower deal successfully with them or to bring them under
its aegis and control? Possibly through the direct involvement of the
Catholic Church.
In past centuries the Catholic Church spared from its persecutions all
those who accepted its beliefs. Now the same Church could will all faiths
to itself by adjusting its approach: putting all faiths at the same level.
This prospect is not religion fiction, but a well-established trend within
the mind of several Catholic cardinals and politicians. After all, the
term "catholic" means "universal"—a church
accepting and honoring all faiths.
The problem with such a solution is that it would inevitably reduce
the role and even the divine nature and origin of both Jesus Christ and
the Bible to a mere "optional" channel and tool to obtain spiritual
salvation.
One of world ecumenism's concepts is that "Christ may be the Head
of the Christian Church, but there are several other ways to get to God." Surprisingly,
this approach is gaining more and more acceptance in the Catholic world. "'Our
faith', stated mons. Fisichella, ‘is not the religion of the Bible:
our faith is the religion of the word, and Scriptures are not all in
the word. We live by traditions . . . which we keep alive in the various
cultures . . .'" (L'Eco di Bergamo, April 23, 2002, "Convegno
sulla multiculturalità").
In other words, they assign to themselves the divine authority to reveal
to their followers teachings whose meaning, value and authority are much
higher than that expressed in the Holy Bible! Where all this could lead
is dramatic and frightening—if the Imperial Church came back to
its original power, even if only for a sort time.
Our European continent has had many geniuses and brilliant thinkers,
and even now it is the historic home of spectacular landscapes, wonderful
architectural masterpieces, extraordinarily talented painters, sculptors,
musicians and singers. Europe is where some of the greatest and most
wonderful discoveries and realizations of humanity were accomplished.
But Europe has also been the stage for centuries of crimes and horrors
against humanity, and many of those crimes were perpetrated in the name
of Christianity. Today, the ancient phantom of religious persecution
seems to be unrealistic because of democracy and religious freedom. But
what if a weak and divided European Parliament now open to heavily Catholic
Eastern nations were to ask the Vatican to be directly involved in promoting
political unity along with religious unity?
The Vatican itself has, more than any other institution, the interest
to see a revival of its ancient religious, political and economical powers.
Very few people realize or believe that the Catholic ecumenical process
is the method that the Vatican is using in its attempt to resuscitate
the old Holy Roman Empire. The form would be different, but the substance
the same.
What game are the nations actually playing? The game of survival and
who will be leading the world through globalization in the next 20 years.
Europe has the most motivation and interest to do so, in order to free
itself from its vulnerable economy and inferiority complex towards the
United States.
When Europe has a strong common leadership, the next logical step would
be the unification of all religions—leading ultimately to more
world control. All this would happen slowly in comparison to our everyday
living. Little by little the globalization process and world ecumenism
would relegate Christ to a marginal role. In this process the role of
the Bible has already been questioned and set aside.
As matter of fact, ecumenism along with the globalization process may
well be representing the imperial system which is described by the Bible
as "Babylon the Great" (Revelation 17:5; 18:2). This is a system
that will be born, motivated and based primarily on money as its real
god. At that time, money will have a far higher priority than God's Commandments.
Europe's decisions in the near future may have serious repercussions
for many peoples in the world, not just those in Europe, if we repeat
the same errors of the past. One of these mistakes was the suppression
of religious freedom and the imposition of Catholicism on all citizens.
That happened before the Second World War. That period did not last long,
thank God. If history would repeat itself, I believe—I hope—these
prophesied tragic events would not last longer—thanks to the same
loving God. |
