Dear Friends:

 

For one thousand years, the universal Church has been severed by numerous fragmentations throughout the centuries. No one questions that division and theological dispute existed frequently in the first millennium of Christian history; nevertheless, those divisions were eventually overcome, whereas in this second millennium of the Christian era, the divisions which have occurred have been deeply rooted, posing many obstacles to restoring the ideals of Christian unity and reconciliation.

 

The first of these divisions was the schism between East and West which occurred in 1054 A.D. The second of these great divisions took place in 1517, when the Protestant Reformation came to be. The first division was due to political and cultural reasons as the two Churches agreed theologically on most issues; the theological disputes existing between East and West were due to lack of formal communication and to different emphases on the same doctrines. The second division was due to more theological issues in lieu of political and theological disputes, though the latter were used to justify and propagate the former.

 

The first division of Christianity resulted in the separation of the Eastern Orthodox Churches from the Roman Catholic Church. The second schism resulted in the birth of the original Protestant Churches, which in turn gave birth to numerous other churches, numbering in our day to over 39,000 denominations. These divisions are undoubtedly a lamentable reality in the modern life of Christianity. It is a deep rooted wound which ought to be healed, i.e., we are in a dire need to restore the ideals of Christian unity and reconciliation by discussing our differences in a diplomatic manner, attaining a mutual understanding of the issues dividing us, and then reaching a plan for attaining the goal of reconciliation and unity.

 

There exists one proposal which I wish to make on the issue of Christian unity: the reconciliation of three mainline Churches, namely, the Eastern Orthodox, the Anglican, and the Roman Catholic. No doubt exists that these three Churches hold a common ground in liturgy, theology, biblical canon, and spirituality that no other Christian denomination holds. These three Churches are closely related to each other in a very singular way; given these facts, if these three Churches could discuss the issues, attain a mutual understanding, and then reconcile, then an example of Christian unity will be established for the rest of the Christian denominations, and the unity of the churches will then be more easily and promptly be attained.

 

Jesus tells us throughout the Gospels, notably in John chs. 10 and 17, that He desires that His flock remains as “one fold” under “one shepherd.” These divisions within Christianity exist only to severe the evangelical nature of the universal Church: how can we as Christians evangelize the world, speaking of the same Lord and Master, while we remain divided against each other, holding resentments and embracing divisions which are centuries old? Such an unfortunate scenario is undoubtedly outside the biblical norms given to us by our Lord Himself. The necessity to restore Christian unity is one of great urgency in our time. We need to work together and restore the unity of the Church, a unity which for one thousand years has been lost by resentments and divisions perpetuated through the centuries by deep rooted wounds.

 

One need not worry about the loss of one’s liturgical traditions or positions of authority within their respective Church. The Anglican and Orthodox bishops, priests, and seminarians will retain their positions when coming into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The Anglican and Orthodox bishops will retain their same jurisdictions, and the priests and seminarians of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches will remain under their same bishops. They will further preserve the liturgical rites of their ecclesial heritage, as have the Eastern Catholics who have maintained their liturgical heritage for centuries. The Anglican Church can gain the status of a rite in its own right (no pun intended) upon coming back to the Roman Catholic Church; hence, as there are Eastern Catholics of various rites (Greek, Russian, Maronite, etc.), so will there be an Anglican Rite established for the Anglican Church to better facilitated reconciliation and unity.

 

Would it not be great to one day see, in the Vatican, the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Orthodox Patriarchs sit together and sign a joint statement of reconciliation stating that the three Churches have decided to reunite? I ask everyone who reads my website to daily pray for the restoration of the ideals of Christian unity and reconciliation, so that one day we may be one Church once more.

 

Miguel Agustín Livas