http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-182.shtml
1. The Commandment for Christian Unity Comes from Christ Himself. On the night before he died, Christ prayed, “May they all be one…so that the world may believe.” (Jn 16:21ff) Christ prayed for it. We have to pray and work for it too.
2. The Biggest Stumbling Block to the Credibility of the Gospel is a Divided Christianity. Sadly, modern society is not well disposed towards religion in general and Christianity in particular. As the world has become more secular, one of the chief arguments people use against Christians is that we simply don’t have our act together. We need to change that perception if we want to be taken seriously.
3. Working for Christian Unity is Integral to the Life of the Church. The Apostle Paul constantly worked and prayed for unity in the Church. So too should today’s Catholics. In his encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Pope John Paul II said: “Thus promoting Christian unity, is not just some sort of "appendix" which is added to the Church's traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work and consequently pervades all that she is and does...”
4. “Convergence” not “Compromise” is the Key to Christian Unity. Working for Christian unity does not mean giving up what is essential to the Catholic faith simply to get along with other Christians. Rather, it is searching for ways to express the truth of the gospel. For Christians the Truth is not a something, but a someONE, and that is Jesus the Christ. Like a wagon wheel with Christ at the center and each Christian on the spokes, in the search for truth, the closer we get to Christ, the closer we get to one another.
5. Ecumenism Happens on Many Levels. Ecumenism can happen in a marriage where the spouses come from different Christian traditions or through a program between a parish and a local Orthodox, Protestant or Evangelical congregation. Or it could be on the diocesan, national, or international level.
6. The First Work of Unity is Prayer. Christians can and should pray together for unity. When we join our prayers for unity to the prayer of Christ, then unity is possible. This is a sign of the real, but imperfect communion which we share in our common baptism. However, because we are not in full communion, Catholics should not receive the Eucharist in other churches and vice versa.
7. The Second Work of Unity is Common Work and Witness. Working together in areas of common concern is a powerful step toward unity. What we can do together, we should do together, especially in acts of charity. Many parishes and congregations work together to run common food pantries, social service agencies, medical clinics and emergency response teams.
8. The Third Work of Unity is Dialogue. Once Christians have prayed and worked together, it makes sense to explore the beliefs, practices and doctrines we hold in common. Dialogue starts with seeking to know the other and often there is more that unites than divides us. When we understand where we converge, we can begin to honestly explore the theological and practical issues that still divide us.
9. Apathy and Proselytism are Opposed to Unity. We live in a privileged time. The animosities that brought about a divided Christianity are no longer present. Yet we cannot sit back and do nothing. Likewise, proselytism, or the deliberate targeting of another Christian or group of Christians for the sole purpose of getting them to reject their church to join another, is not allowed. Some people may feel called in conscience to change from one tradition to another, but “sheep stealing” is unacceptable.
10. Achieving Unity is Going to Take a Long, Long Time.We have lived in a divided Christianity for almost a thousand years. Christian unity is not going to be achieved overnight. But by praying together, working together and engaging in charitable, deliberate dialogue, we can work with the Holy Spirit so that the prayer of Christ at the Last Supper, “that they all may be one…that the world may believe” will come to fruition. We have lived in a divided Christianity for almost a thousand years. Christian unity is not going to be achieved overnight. But by praying together, working together and engaging in charitable, deliberate dialogue, we can work with the Holy Spirit so that the prayer of Christ at the Last Supper, “that they all may be one…that the world may believe” will come to fruition.
Here are an example of a typical heretical statement by the anti-popes of the II Vatican "Church"...where they deny one of the four cournerstones of Catholic doctrine, namely that the church is UNITED (in unity, one)
John Paul II, Homilia, Dec 5, 1996 – on the subject of common prayer with non-Catholics: ”When we pray together, we do so with the longing ’THAT THERE MAY BE ONE VISIBLE CHURCH OF GOD, A CHURCH TRULY UNIVERSAL and sent forth to the whole world that the world may be converted to the Gospel and so be saved, to the glory of God’ (citat ur Unitatis Redintegratio, 1.).”
And then what the TRUE CHURCH teaches:
The niceno-constantinopolitan creed 381, ex cathedra: ”We believe in… One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognium, 29th of june 1896: ”The Church in respect of its UNITY belongs to the category of things INDIVISIBLE by nature…”
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 29th of june 1896: ”… This UNITY CANNOT BE BROKEN, nor the ONE BODY DIVIDED BY THE SEPARATION OF ITS CONSTITUENT PARTS.”
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, 6th of Jan, 1928: ”… here it seems opportunate to expound and to refute a certain false opinion..For they are of OPINION THAT THE UNITY OF FAITH AND GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS A NOTE OF THE ONE TRUE CHURCH, HAS HARDLY UP TO THE RESENT TIME EXISTED, AND DOES NOT TODAY EXIST.”
The novus ordo is NOT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH! It is a false anti-church and it contradicts Catholic teaching on a daily basis all over the world!
suniva, however, i admire your apatite for truth and ardent desire for the traditional church and its rites. Although, i believe you may be at length in error as to regards our holy father Benedict xvii and his predecessors after john xxiii.if i ask you to whom know is your allegiance in the catholic faith is to? "To the Christ" i believe you say. but this our Blessed Lord left for us an unbroken rock for foundation on peter and his unbroken line of petrine ministries in succession through the ages of his church till now. i am moved to assure you that this is the fact and that what ever mistakes in leadership as a result of a corrupt few(and not peter nor his successors) will never tarnish or destroy the church as Christ has said that cavern gates of hell shall never subdue it as he will be with her to the end of time. to have no peter is to be the end of time as we know it. please take this friendly wisdom! God the father, the son and the holy spirit bless and keep you.Amen.
ReplyDeleteLook.. If you are in doubt about weather or not Ratzinger is a heretic, just visit www.vaticancatholic.com and watch their material about it. And ask yourself this question.. Who would be more faithful to the papacy? A person (like yourself) who denies that the Church can exist when the Chair of St.Peter is vacant, and who without any investigation, firmly believes that anyone who wears the right hat, and lives in the right place in the Vatican is the Pope, reguardless of what he teaches? Or a person like me, who reguards the teachings of the Church so highly that I would never accept heresy or compromise a teaching of the Church? Each time a pope dies, the Chair of Peter is empty until a new pope is elected. This has during history sometimes even taken a FEW YEARS. During that time, the chair has been empty. Does that mean that the Church stopped existing during that time, or that the promises of Christ were broken? Of course not. You don't have to read much history to discover that there during the Church's history have been around 40 anti-popes (false popes, who did not meet the requirements needed to become a Pope). So why should today be any different? The Church is clear, a manifest heretic can not become the head of the Catholic Church, and a pope who falls into public heresy AUTOMATICALLY looses his office. Just read the Church documents I have published on this blog. It's the ones with the Latin headlines!!
DeleteJeffrey if the Vatican 2 sect is the Catholic Church,then the Gates of Hell have prevailed.
DeleteThe Vatican 2 church is no different than Martin Luther.They (V2 Sect) created their own religion and renounced Roman Catholicism.(Their priest's & Bishop's are invalid since June 1968 thus their 'Sacraments' and 'masses' are invalid)