1. Christian Unity http://www.catholicenquiry.com/fre quently-asked-questions/church- practices.html

2. In recent years a significant change is taking place in the relations between the various Christian denominations. Things that would have seemed impossible 20 years ago have come to pass in our day. The ecumenical spirit or movement, is at work almost everywhere, taking on various forms within the great Christian communities - Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. Most significant of all from the Catholic viewpoint has been the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican. Although the Council has as its immediate primary aim the renewal of the Church and the adaptation of its apostolate to modern problems and times, its long range primary goal is the unity in the one true Church of Christ of all those who bear the Christian name. One of the most heartening features of the first session of the Council was the fact that so many other Christian confessions were officially represented by their observers, and that their experience surpassed all their expectations. The things that impressed the observers most were the sincere charity and courtesy that welcomed them, the complete trust placed in them, the utter freedom of discussion and the genuine anxiety of the bishops to do everything possible for the promotion of Christian unity. All agree that dialogue between the various denominations must be the starting point for unity. The operative word in the true ecumenical dialogue is "Truth" - the telling of the whole truth to one another in order that a faithful image of our beliefs may stand out clearly. One cannot build the unity of Christians at the price of betraying truth. Therefore, it is essential that matters on which the various Churches disagree should be revealed as much as the matters on which they agree. Any other approach is spurious. Once the true image of each of the great Churches is established - but only then - one may clearly see what is a matter of principle and what is a matter of emphasis, and one may hope to re-establish the historic truth. Looking back, Catholics are thoroughly ashamed of the abuses and corruptions that led to the Reformation. No one doubts that a reformation was necessary and long overdue. But more serious-minded Christians deeply regret the tearing-asunder that actually took place. And the more they consider the social environment of those times and the powerful political and nationalistic influences that were at work, the better are they able to put the whole tragic affair in its right perspective. There were only two alternatives at that time. One was to reform the lives of the members of the one true Church of Christ from within - and indeed history shows that such a reformation was already in progress.

3. The other was to break away from that one true Church and set up another. Irrespective of how much blame attached to Catholics and Protestants - and both are to blame and must make reparation for their sin - the central undeniable fact of history is that many chose the second alternative. When they broke away they did not gather together to live purer and holier lives in accordance with the doctrines of faith and morals they had formerly accepted, but they set up new churches - now under Luther, now under Calvin, now under Henry VIII and Elizabeth - with other doctrines, other forms of worship and other discipline and government. The result was that the unity of Christendom was shattered, but the unity of the Catholic Church - that unity divinely guaranteed by Christ her Founder and set up as a visible sign of His Church - was in no way affected. She remained undividedly one in faith, worship and government, as she must remain until the end of time. When the Catholic Church speaks of Christian reunion, therefore, it can only be in terms of a return, a homecoming of the Christians who separated themselves from her unity. To this some will say: What intolerance! And there the agony begins. For the Catholic Church it is an agony of truth-bearing. She will do everything possible to bring back those who have left her, everything short of denying or compromising the divine commission and the deposit of truth she received from Christ Who founded her and the Holy Spirit Who dwells in her and guides her. The Catholic Church is prepared to restate her doctrines in terms more readily understood by today's men and women, provided, of course, that the purity of the doctrine itself is not violated. She is prepared to emphasise aspects of doctrine that others think are under-emphasised. She is prepared to respect and safeguard the traditions of spirituality that others have drawn from pure Christian sources. She is ever-ready to draw a clear line between what is essential and what is not essential - a distinction that non-Catholics do not always appreciate. In our day the new, intense interest in biblical studies has brought scholars of all denominations closer together. More people are coming to realise that since the Scriptures were given by God to His Church for the building up of the organic Body of Christ, there must be an authoritative voice in the Church to interpret them. Again, the intensified study of early Christian history is bringing more people to rediscover the Catholic Unity of the early Christians, and to realise the value of tradition as a witness to the faith of these same early Christians. Many are acquiring a deeper appreciation of the organic structure of the Church, seen as the Mystical Body of Christ. This will bring a yearning after organic unity in faith, worship and discipline, and a searching for a true authority in relation to these vital matters. All these are signs that give reason for valid hope. True unity will call for great and even heroic honesty, sincerity and humility, but the searching must always be for real unity, not just a bargaining towards a loose union of many churches where each maintains its autonomy in doctrine and discipline.