26.06.2017
The Reformation, Ecumenism, the Eucharist and the Steps to Greater Unity – Clontarf Conference Covers Much Ground
By the Revd Lesley Robinson
An Ecumenical Conference entitled ‘One Lord, One Faith’ was held in the Church of St John the Baptist, Clontarf on Saturday, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Germany. Introducing the event, Mary Cunningham, co–organiser with the Rector, the Revd Lesley Robinson, highlighted the many and growing list of ecumenical initiatives in Clontarf, including a Good Friday Way of the Cross, an Easter Sunrise Service, the Pentecost Camino and Ecumenical Bible Study. She credited Fr. Gabriel Daly’s book, The Church Always in Need of Reform, as being the inspiration for the decision to commemorate Luther’s 95 Theses, noting that both were Augustinian friars, some 500 years apart. She also paid tribute to their mutual friend, Fr Sean Fagan, a ‘much loved and respected theologian’, who passed away last year.
The conference was ably facilitated by Philip McKinley, who before introducing the speakers, commented on the power of anniversaries as opportunities to think wide and think big and to look again through our 2017 lens at what life was like in the 16th century.
BACKGROUND TO THE REFORMATION
The first speaker was Dr Gesa Thiessen, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Religions and Theology, TCD, and an assistant Lutheran Minister. She spoke of the background to the Reformation and gave an insight into Luther’s theology, pointing out that the theses were intended as discussion papers but set in train consequences that were unforeseen and unintended by Luther. His intention was to reform the whole church, in the face of some serious abuses, however, what resulted was what she called the ‘tragic legacy of the Reformation: the wholly unintended schism in the church’. Hugely influenced by the writings of St Paul, Luther came to understand salvation as a gift, not something that could be earned or bought. This doctrine of salvation through God’s gift of righteousness without dependence on human merit, was the measure by which Luther judged the religious practices and official teaching of his day and he found them wanting. His reliance on sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia often led to accusations of a denial of the place of good works in Christian lives. Dr Thiessen pointed out that this was untrue, quoting Luther as saying ‘Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever’. She concluded with a quote from the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, signed by the Roman Cathoilc and Lutheran churches in 1999. ‘Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us to good works’, quipping that she was sure Luther would agree!
THE UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF ECUMENISM
The second speaker was Dr Andrew Pierce, Assistant Professor in Ecumenics, Course Co–Ordinator of the M.Phil. in Intercultural Theology & Interreligious Studies and Head of Department, in the Irish School of Ecumenics, TCD. Andrew spoke on the Ecumenical Journey So Far, reflecting at the outset that ecumenism is a complex reality, which is as much concerned with unity as with diversity, the key to which is sustaining the equilibrium between the two. Explaining the origin of the word ecumenism as Oikoumene: the whole inhabited earth, he pointed out the perpetual difficulties with that concept of wholeness, citing Paul’s failures to successfully ease the tensions between Jews and Greeks, and St Jerome’s agonized musings on whether the country people could be saved, as examples of the church’s 2000 year history of failed ecumenism. Noting that St Paul only travelled in the cities, he commented on the fact that people outside the borders are often not seen as belonging to the whole, evident currently in Europe with the issue of how we deal with refugees. An ecumenical theology is a theology concerned with both the unity and diversity of the Christian Church; and in its modern form, ecumenism started in 1910 at the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference. Dr Pierce went on to speak of the work of the World Council of Churches, which advocates ‘shared service, shared mission, shared living, shared prayer’. He referred to some of the achievements of the Faith and Order Movement strand of the WCC as being: Full membership of Roman Catholic Church in the F&O Commission in 1968; Baptism, Eucharist & Ministry: a convergence text in 1982; and The Church: Towards a Common Mission: a second convergence text in 2013, noting that the covenant signed between the Methodist Church and the Church of Ireland, and the relationship between the Church of Ireland and the Porvoo Lutheran churches grew out of the Baptism, Eucharist & Ministry document. Despite such progress many challenges remain, not least difficulties which Richard Niebuhr sees as the reality of people’s denominational identity changing to reflect social mobility. Rather than simply reflecting the reality of principled division amongst Christians, Niebuhr described denominationalism as ‘the moral failure of Christianity.’ Dr Pierce went on to ask how might we distinguish doctrinal and non–doctrinal elements in our religious identity, so particularly prevalent in Ireland, and how might we prevent the latter from masquerading as the former? Closing with the challenge of the Lund Principle that the churches can now act together in all things, except where sincere matters of conviction prevent this, he asked what that might look like in Clontarf, or any other community.
AN ECUMENICAL THEOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Having enjoyed lunch together in the Parish Centre, Fr Gabriel Daly OSA, renowned theologian and writer, recommenced proceedings with a talk entitled An Ecumenical Theology of the Eucharist. Fr Daly confessed that he found it difficult to discuss the Eucharist without adverting to Catholic conservative attitudes some of which have to be changed in order to make further ecumenical progress. While acknowledging the right of conservative Catholics to hold to their views, he questioned their right to impose those views on others as the only possible orthodoxy, thereby putting a barrier in the path of ecumenical progress. He commented that the church introduced the term ‘transubstantiation’ into common liturgical use in the Middle Ages, at the end of which the Council of Trent put it into the context of the Reformation and that made it a contentious issue between the churches. Pre–Vatican Two Eucharistic theology was concentrated on a philosophical problem employing abstractions like substance and accidents which mean little to the average member of the church who probably turns it into a physical change, in spite of unmistakable evidence to the contrary. Sadly, the Eucharist became an occasion of bitter controversy and disunity from the time of the Reformation – the very antithesis of what the Eucharist was intended to be. Fr Daly is adamant that there is no suggestion in The Council of Trent that the word ‘transubstantiation’ is defined Catholic doctrine; only that the Eucharistic conversion of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is ‘suitably and properly called Transubstantiation.’ Therefore, he asserts, it is in no way necessary to Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Reflecting on the philosophy of metaphysics, so influential in Catholic Eucharist theology, he noted that this is an age of scientifically–based thought; and people today do not use metaphysical language. Thus they can share in the Eucharist without knowing what substance and accidents are. Quoting John Calvin, he agreed with his statement “I [would] rather experience than understand [the Eucharist]”. Tackling what he sees as the misuse of the word symbol he asserted that this misunderstanding of symbolism led to the belief that it was a way of avoiding subscription to the notion of ‘the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist’. Thus, if Protestants referred to the symbolism of the Eucharist, they were taken to mean that Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is not “real”. Fr Daly refuted this accusation and went on to observe that virtually all talk about God is symbolic: rather than a denial of real presence, symbolism enables us to speak about things that lie too deep for literal speech. Lamenting the Roman Catholic church’s denial of the right to share the Eucharist with our separated brethren, Fr Daly concluded with a revisiting of what he called the ‘human character of Holy Thursday’. At the climax of the evening, Jesus took a loaf of bread, broke it into pieces and distributed them to his disciples in a spontaneously loving gesture intended to express in powerful symbolic and dramatic fashion all that he felt for them since he had met them first by the lakeside in Galilee. “We cannot imagine”, argued Fr Daly, “that the disciples would have wondered what had happened to the bread and the wine at the Last Supper; they were far too preoccupied with a deeply moving occasion that summed up the entire time that they had spent with Jesus. Biblical history has left us with a moment of great emotional and spiritual significance; and, over the centuries, we have often reduced it to a tiresome metaphysical dispute about ‘real presence’ which has done little good and much harm to unity and peace”.
STEPPING STONES TOWARDS GREATER UNITY
It was left to the final speaker of the day, Gillian Kingston, Vice President of the World Methodist Council and formerly the first Lay Leader of the Methodist Conference in Ireland, to wrap things up with some thoughts on where we can go from here, in a talk entitled Stepping Stones Towards Greater Unity: what can be done at local level to progress things. She began by quoting Friedrich Nietzsche who pointed out that there will always be rocks on the road ahead of us: they can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones, depending on how we chose to use them. Using the analogy of a three legged milking stool, she cited three pillars of the ecumenical movement: theological dialogue and reflection, structural reform and realignment, grass root encounter and involvement– all of which are interdependent on each other. Mentioning several of the dialogues which have taken place and the documents and suggestions which have ensued, she spoke of the importance of intentionality in getting to know each other, in worshiping together, in sharing stories of faith together, in conducting shared Bible study, and in looking at the possibilities of making joint appointments to youth, children and pastoral roles. Citing progress which has been made at official level, she asked if we as churches and individuals avail of these permissions. She urged us to experience what is best about worshipping together, to learn about each other’s histories and what makes the other tick, and witness together our common Christian values to the world. She also encouraged honest and open discussion about the things on which we differ, using as an example the missed opportunity to come together to discuss the contentious One Bread, One Body document. Acknowledging the hurt caused by some Vatican pronouncements, she told the story of a Roman Catholic lady in the North Tipperary Methodist circuit who turned up at the Methodist church with flowers and an apology in the wake of the Dominus Iesus document. However, on a more encouraging note she pointed to some of Pope Francis’ recent writings as great sources of hope of a shared vision for the future of the church and the world, including Evangelii Gaudium in 2013 and Laudato si in 2015 which she noted with glee was published on 24th May – Wesley Day! Taking up Pope Francis’ passion for the poor, Mrs Kingston encouraged the assembled audience of over forty people from diverse backgrounds, to commit to tackling such issues as the refugee crisis, the persecution of Christians and world development together as a joint Christian witness. ‘Instead of doing ecumenical things’ she said, ‘we need to do things ecumenically’– a subtle but profound difference. Returning to her opening reference to Nietzsche, she pointed out that the stumbling block of 1517 had become a stepping stone in 1999 with the Joint Declaration between Lutherans and Roman Catholic churches. Other churches have since subscribed to the declaration also. Concluding, Mrs Kingston noted that while reformation and division came about in 1517, we continue pray for reformation and unity in 2017.
The conference concluded with a Service of Holy Communion, celebrated by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, assisted by the Rector of Clontarf, the Revd Lesley Robinson. The Gospel was read by Most Revd Dr Diarmuid Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, while local Parish Priest, Fr Martin Hogan, read the First Lesson. The intercessions were read by members of the various churches represented.
It is hoped to build on the success of the conference by holding an annual ecumenical conference in Clontarf.