The Spirit of Things by Fr. Bob - Pope St. John XXIII and Christian Unity
This week, starting on January 18, and continuing through January 25, is the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity. This includes praying about and looking for ways to grow closer with other Christians — whether it be Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant, or Evangelical — as well as with non-Christians — such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. I have to admit that ecumenism is not always at the top of my list of things to do. However, maybe I need to move it up the list a few notches because it was something near and dear to St. John XXIII, the patron saint of our parish.
This Week of Prayer For Christian Unity started developing in the years after World War I, when there was an overall feeling among many people to push for peace on various levels, after the years of war. It continued to gain momentum with the establishment of the World Council of Churches in 1948 (after World War II). When St. John XXIII was elected pope in 1958, he met with the Archbishop of Canterbury (Anglican) at the Vatican — a first in 600 years. He also established the Secretariat For Promoting Christian Unity in the Vatican.
St. John XXIII came to see Christian unity as important as a Vatican diplomat first in Bulgaria, then Greece and Turkey, and finally in France, before he was pope. But also as an amateur historian and doing simple arithmetic, he concluded that 80% of wars were religious in nature. Even in the current war in Ukraine, although it didn’t start as a religious war, there has been a split between the Ukrainian Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox Churches because of it.
One phrase many people apply to St. John XXIII is “Good Pope John,” which might cause a few people to think he was a pushover or weak. Although only pope for 4 ½ years, he was neither. Not only was his last encyclical letter entitled Pacem In Terris (Peace On Earth) the culmination of all of his thoughts about working for peace, but also he called the Second Vatican Council just six weeks after becoming pope, on January 25, 1959, at the closing Mass for the Week of Christian Unity. One major decree of the council is Nostra Aetate, The Decree on Relations between the Church and Non-Christians, which we still use today.
The theme for this year’s Week of Christian Unity comes from Isaiah 1:17: “Do good; seek justice,” which recalls the prophet’s concern for the oppressed who suffer from injustice and inequality fed by hypocrisy that leads to disunity. Isaiah teaches that God requires righteousness and justice from all of us, to create the peace and unity that God desires. For more resources to help you think about, pray for, and work toward Christian unity, go to: https://www.usccb.org/committees/ecumenical-interreligious-affairs/week-prayer-christian-unity-2023.