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“East or west, home is best”, now seems to have a new meaning among religious groups following Pope Benedict XVI’s ecumenical invitation on his inauguration day. The rallying cry for religious unity by the late John Paul II appears to be bearing fruits.

Both pontiffs pledged commitment to the Vatican II Council of the 1960s, where it was resolved to no longer refer to Protestants as heretics, but as “separated brethren”.

The ecumenical wave has not spared this country either. Interdenominational prayers have become the order of the day, not to mention the unity now seen among previously antagonistic religious groups in the constitutional review process, under the auspices of the Ufungamano Initiative.

Ecumenism, a term which normally refers to unity of faiths, now appears to cover not only the return of Protestants to the Catholic Church, but also the renewed relationship between Rome and non-Christian religions.

Before his death, Pope John Paul II had officially apologised to Jews, Muslims and Protestants for the atrocities committed against them by the papacy in past years. An estimated 100 million people were reportedly martyred for professing faith contrary to the Church of Rome.

At the Vatican II Council of the 1960s, the 77-year old Pope John XXXIII, nicknamed “John the Jelly’’ due to his sense of humor, took his 2,500 bishops by surprise when he summoned them to “throw open the windows” of the Church.

Protestant and Orthodox clergy were invited to sit in as observers. The Council also invited discourse with “Christian churches separated from the Holy See”.

Pope Benedict XVI (then a theology professor) featured prominently in the Council as a liberal theological advisor.

He even helped to draft an attack on the church laws dealing with heresy which dated to medieval times, and which were said to be “a source of scandal”.

Although he was later to turn conservative, he has now pledged commitment to Vatican II’s ecumenical resolutions, if only in honour of his predecessor.

The late Pope John II nearly succeeded in bundling world religions into one giant global church. He fearlessly criss-crossed the globe, which he looked upon as his home parish.

By the time he died, he had succeeded in turning many denominational foes into friends.

In a 1995 statement, the Pope earnestly sought an accommodation with other Christian denominations on the future role of the papacy if it could foster unity.

The Anglican Church appears to be ahead of other Protestant churches in this journey of unity.

She was the first to separate from the Catholic Church in 1534 AD, and Pope John Paul cherished a special ecumenical vision of closer ties with the 450 year-old church.

In 1999, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) published the ground-breaking 43-page document dubbed “Gift of Authority” in which Christians were asked to “recognise the universal role of the Pope”.

The pope’s ministry was termed as “a gift to be received by all the churches”.

Also spearheading reconciliation with Rome is the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, formerly one of the strongest critics of the papacy.

James Ng’ang’a
This may be found at: http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news_s.php?articleid=22823&date=15/06/2005