Magyar Egyház, 1967 (46. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1967-02-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7 WORLD LOOKS TO THE CHURCHES FOR JOINT WITNESS (Brussels/Louvain) ■— “The unexpected break-through in Christian dialogue during the last few years has aroused tremendous hopes, and it does not help for us to point out that time is needed to fulfill them,” stated Dr. Lukas Vischer, director of the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order, in an address delivered at Brussels during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Conceding that further development of the ecumenical movement may entail great theological and spiritual difficulties, Dr. Vischer stated that the churches have no other choice unless they are prepared to accept the consequence of reaction. “Public opinion expects the churches to make a united witness,” he said. The danger of disappointment arises also from the efforts of those “prepared to venture upon the experiment of making a joint witness.” Will they be supported by the churches? Will they be supported by those who believe in the ecumenical movement in principle? he asked. “The real difficulty stems from the fact that the theological and ecclesiological bases for a joint witness have not yet been worked out . . . Any attempt to push forward in these areas is bound to lead to conflict, and the more serious the conflicts, the greater will be the danger of impatience and disappointment.” In a second address given at Loutvain, he called for a joint witness for peace. “The Church of Christ will suffer one of the greatest defeats in our time if it fails to engage in a joint witness and a common effort for peace,” said the WCC leader. “As long as the churches are divided, they do not carry conviction when they point to Christ as the source of true peace.” (EPS) “What is needed is that together the churches should seek to discern afresh the central Gospel of the Church’s Lord — that which is common to all the churches, which over and over again in the Church’s long history has welled up livingly and powerfully. Once that inward pressure is felt and responded to — then the liberating power of ecumenical reality will be felt.” Bring Dialogue to General Church Public An appraisal of the state of Christian dialogue was made by Msgr. William W. Baum, executive director of the American Bishops Commission on Ecumenical Affairs. “Theologians taking part in talks between Catholics and several Protestant denominations have advanced beyond the point of comparing theological positions. They are now engaged in joint theological research.” Msgr. Baum said the dialogue with Lutherans centers on theological issues; conversations with Episcopalians on pastoral problems, talks with Presbyterians on continued church refrom and renewal. Conceding that “most of the progress has been among theologians and scholars,” the Roman Catholic ecumenist pointed out that “there is a natural time lag before it can be spread to the general church public. “The unity movement is for all, not just for scholars,” he said, “so our big task now is to bring this consensus among theologians to the total membership of the churches to the Christian people.” Gap Between Ecumenical Movement and Parish Church The critical point in the ecumenical movement is no longer at the national or world level but in the local church, Dr. Samuel McCrea Cavert told the annual luncheon meeting of the Friends of the World Council of Churches in New York City. “Making due allowance for many exceptions,” he said, “we can safely say there is a great gap between the ecumenical movement and most parish churches.” A former executive secretary of the WCC in the United States and of the National Council of Churches, Dr. Cavert is a pioneer in the ecumenical movement. Stressing that “most of the creative leadership for the movement came out of the local church and was nurtured by it,” the speaker declared: “I see no prospect that various freelance ministries, important as they are, can ever take the place of the local church.” Dr. Cavert said that it is important to make clear to the “many sincere and intelligent Christians, who fear the ecumenical movement, that its primary concern is not unification of structure for authentic Christian community.” Whether there should be organizational mergers is a secondary question, he said, adding, “The answer depends on what we learn as we keep moving forward toward maximum fellowship in the worship and witness of one People of God.” BISHOP OTTO DIBELIUS, ECUMENICAL LEADER DIES AT THE AGE OF 86 (Berlin-FPS) — Bishop Otto Dibelius, who served as a President of the World Council of Churches from 1954 until 1961, died in Berlin on January 31 at the age of 86. One of Germany’s most noted Protestant churchmen, Bishop Dibelius had frequently been in the headlines for his outspoken opposition to the restriction of religious liberty in the German Democratic Republic (DDR). Dr. Eugene Carson Blake and Dr. W. A. Visser ‘t Hooft, the present and the former general secretaries of the World Council of Churches, sent this message to Bishop Kurt Scharf, chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany: “Our sorrow in the loss of our dear friend Bishop Dibelius is enlightened by gratitude for his Christian life and by the hope of the Gospel.” Dr. Dibelius had been Evangelical Bishop of Berlin- Brandenburg from 1945 until 1966. He had also been chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (comprising 28 regional churches in the two parts of the politically divided Germany) from 1949 until 1961. Vitally interested in ecumenical developments, Dr. Dibelius took part in the first Faith and Order conference at Stockholm in 1925 and had been present at every WCC assembly. Born in Berlin on May 15, 1880, Otto Dibelius came to prominence as the result of a sermon preached at Potsdam in 1933 in which he rebuked members of the government for aspiring to totalitarian rule. He was dismissed from his post by the Nazi authorities. Undeterred bv frenuent arrests and bans on his preaching, he organized the “Confessing Church” movement’s resistance to Nazi ideology in Berlin, in close association with Dr. Martin Niemöller.
