The Press WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1965. Christian Unity

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30760, 26 May 1965, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1965. Christian Unity

Christian unity, for which a week of prayer will begin tomorrow, will challenge churchmen on more than theological grounds. Church reunion, even among the most likely alliances, means a shake-up of personal associations, of forms of worship, and of many comfortable, familiar attitudes. Christians who wish to show that they really want to end fundamental disputes must first prove to themselves and others that they are not wedded merely by habit to tradition and current associations. If all the differences over theology were miraculously settled it would still be difficult for many Christians to cast off habits of mind with which history, national characteristics, and long-established customs have confirmed original sources of disunity. If the more superficial differences of tradition, interpretation and understanding were removed, the Christian Church would more directly achieve a goal sought by many of its leaders: that the Church should appear less concerned with itself and more concerned with the enactment of Christian principles in a world threatened with war, a world half-filled with people who are starving, a world burdened with an “ exploding ” population, a world of nominally Christian countries where far too many lives are wracked with uncertainties and damaged by human frailties. The application of Christian ideas will be a good deal easier and more far-reaching when those who have the conviction and the means to guide, advise, and help others can work on a broad and common front. To recognise the need for Christian unity is to acknowledge that the Church, as an instrument of the Christian mission, is the wrong shape to do the job. It must be reassembled to get better results.

Churches which are members of the World Council have their conferences and committees in this country and abroad to work on the blueprint for realignment. The Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church last year made unprecedented decisions to obtain a change of attitude towards other Christian churches, though these decisions did not involve a change in Roman Catholic articles of faith. There is now an official channel of communication between the Roman Catholic and non-Roman Catholic Churches as a result 6f the decision in Rome this year to form a mixed committee to consider the problems of unity. These changes are part of a Counter-Reformation inspired by Pope John XXIII and carried forward by Pope Paul VI. This week’s theme for prayers by all the major denominations represents an effort by Church leaders to involve laymen in a conversion of heart and mind towards fellow Christians.