Can't we all just get along? Well that depends on where the gaps are between people's principles, value and perspective.
If one tries to get along by glossing over the gaps, then it is like walking in the Antarctic Ice Fields without safety equipment.
Eventually, you will fall through the thin layer of ice and plummet to your demise.
P^3
Ecumenism: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Modernists have a tendency of taking a perfectly Catholic word and applying a new non-Catholic meaning to it. The word 'Ecumenism' has suffered the same fate and as a result there are now three types of Ecumenism: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The Good Ecumenism
An example of the Good Ecumenism can be found in the encyclical of Pius XI - Mortalium Animos (1928) in articles 10:
So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never
allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics:
for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return
to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it,
for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of
Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain,
according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted
it.
Similar pleas have been made by Leo XIII, Pius XII and other pontiffs up to the Second Vatican Council.
In the present age of the Church, this is commonly called the "Ecumenism of return". This is the Good.
The Bad Ecumenism
In the late 19th and early 20th century, a movement with the desire
to achieve 'Christian Unity' was founded. While the members of this
movement were well intentioned, the organization was founded upon flawed
principles. It is these flawed principles that Pius XI condemned in
Mortalium Animos, particularly since equally well-meaning Catholics were
beginning to participate in the movement. These principles were so
flawed that Pius XI called them "a most grave error, by which the
foundations of the Catholic faith are completely destroyed". In short,
the movement made a distinction between fundamental truths and optional
truths.
As this form of Ecumenism was outside the Church of Christ, it is The Bad.
The Ugly Ecumenism
The third form of Ecumenism is, for all purposes, identical to 'The
Bad'. The key difference is that, like a virus, it has infected the
Mystical Body of Christ, the "true Church of Jesus Christ, which is
the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church" (Mystici Corporis - Pius XII).
Cardinals Kasper and Koch are normally the first people mentioned when
looking for symptoms of this viral infection. However, recently a group
of SSPX faithful from Winnipeg were able to hear for themselves the
first lecture given by Professor Catherine E. Clifford. In this lecture
they were provided an example of how Ecumenism currently manifests
itself within the Bride of Christ.
In the first lecture it was made clear that Ecumenism within the Church
had shifted from "Ecumenism of return" to "Ecumenism of recognition". In
the second lecture on 'Where is the Church of Christ', Prof. Clifford
sounded the alarm that there has occurred a "subtle slippage ... [back]
to an ecumenism of return, to one that is more ecclesial and Roman
centric than the Christo centric ecumenism of recognition fostered by
the Second Vatican Council."
Herein lies the problem, how can one have Christo centric ecumenism
without reference to the One, Holy, Catholic and Roman Catholic Church
that Christ founded? According to Catholic Dogma, one cannot.
This form of Ecumenism has marred the clear face of the Church of Christ. This Ecumenism is simply: The Ugly.
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